How You Can Save Thousands Of Dollars
With A Living Trust! 
(Page 2)

The probate process, being a public forum, has some very unpleasant side effects that go with this "noble effort" of protecting a family's wishes for the distribution of their estate. 

The executor of the estate has to file your will at the courthouse, where it becomes public information that everyone, and anyone, can see. Not good at all if you don't want the world to know about you financial affairs. 

The usual costs associated with probate can run anywhere from 3% to as high as 10% of the estate! A $1,000,000 estate = $30,000 - $100,000 paid to lawyers and court costs. Some people do not like wasting this much money. 

Creditors are notified to make claims against the estate, estate tax returns have to be prepared and filed, any questions or problems with the disposition of the assets must be resolved, etc., etc. 

This process of contacting creditors can take as little as nine months after the death, and is frequently much longer. 

Quite candidly, this has a way of extending the grieving process... because the estate matters are continually coming up months after the loved one has passed away. 

Many people don't like making their family suffer through all these endless delays, especially if there is a business involved, or whatever. 

So you can see that while probate has good intentions from the public's point of view, it is not very desirable privately for most of us. 

The solution?  

A Living Trust! 

When you transfer your assets to the trust as the owner, here are the benefits that can be seen: 

At death, the trust property will either be directly distributed to the family, or held in trust for them, based on however the parents wanted things to be handled. All these distributions are done without any court supervision! 

If you should become mentally or physically unable to manage your affairs, a successor trustee of your choice can step in to take over the management responsibilities. The new trustee will not have to obtain probate court approval, or be subject to court supervision! 

The trust arrangement can be amended or canceled anytime. This is not a permanent arrangement that can't be switched later on! 

In essence, what a Living Trust does, is provide for the orderly and prudent management of your assets in the event of a lifetime disability, and substitutes for a "will" at death. 

The biggest benefit of a Living Trust is that there are no court proceedings, expenses or delays which are associated with probate and a Will! 

For example, one of our clients passed away, and her entire estate of over $750,000 was distributed to all nine children and grandchildren in less than 30 days, with only $2,000 in legal fees! 

That's all good news. 

Now you can see why so many people are interested in establishing a Living Trust to direct their wishes. 

All the benefits of a Living Trust are very worthwhile. 

HERE ARE 5 MISTAKES TO AVOID IN SETTING UP A LIVING TRUST! 

   Now let's look at some specific mistakes that people make when setting up their estates, particularly when using a Living Trust. While these problems are the most common, they are by no means, the only ones that can come up and bite you. We just wanted to cover the most frequent problems we see on a regular basis. 

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