A revocable living trust is a legal document that gives instructions to your trusted helpers on how to handle certain matters when you are disabled or die. It is an estate planning document that speaks for you when you are unable to make decisions.
There are many benefits to having a revocable living trust:
- You can have full control. If you want to have control of your assets, a revocable living trust is a great option. When you are alive and well, you are always able to make changes to your revocable living trust.
How does a revocable living trust give you control? If you are disabled or die, you have already selected your trustees (someone you trust to act on your behalf).
Your trustees will be able to easily follow the instructions that you have outlined in your revocable living trust.
- Your revocable living trust is effective even when you are alive. While a will is only valid once a person dies, a revocable living trust is effective if you become disabled.
A revocable living trust can be used to appoint disability trustees if you become disabled, provide direction to your disability trustees, and provide for your taking back over after you are no longer disabled.
Disability planning offers control even when you are disabled.
- Beneficiaries are given asset protection. With a revocable living trust, you can include provisions to protect the assets you give to your beneficiaries.
A trust can protect a beneficiary’s inheritance from creditors, predators, divorce, drug addiction, business failures, and more.
If you have questions about the benefits of revocable living trusts, consult with an experienced estate planning attorney.
John’s practice focuses on the use of Wills and Living Trusts in Estate Planning to help individuals protect their families and preserve their legacies after their deaths, but his practice also focuses on the critical issues of protecting individuals with dementia or other diminished capacity, assisting individuals in qualifying for Medicaid and other government benefits to offset the costs of long-term care, and providing special needs planning.
John is admitted to practice law in North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio, and he is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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