LEGACY Planning FAQs

Most of us spend a considerable amount of time and energy in our lives accumulating wealth. As we do this, there also comes a time to preserve wealth both for our enjoyment and for future generations. A solid, effective estate plan ensures that your hard-earned wealth will pass intact to those you intend to be your beneficiaries, instead of being siphoned off to government processes and bureaucrats.

YES. But your family may not like it. The government's estate plan is called "intestate probate" and guarantees government interference in the disposition of your estate. Documents must be filed, and approval must be received from a court to pay your bills, pay your spouse an allowance and account for your property — and it all takes place in the public's view. If you fail to plan your estate, you lose the opportunity to protect your family from an impersonal, complex governmental process that is a burden at best and can be a nightmare.

Unfortunately, you would be subject to "living probate," also known as a conservatorship or guardianship proceeding. If you become mentally disabled before you die, the probate court will appoint someone to take control of your assets and personal affairs. These "court-appointed agents" must file a strict accounting of your finances with the court. The process is often expensive, time-consuming and humiliating.

YES. In fact, most living trusts have the people who created them acting as their own trustees. If you are married, you and your spouse can act as co-trustees. And you will have absolute and complete control over all of the assets in your trust. In the event of a mentally disabling condition, your handpicked successor trustee assumes control over your affairs, not the court's appointee.

No. The purpose of creating a living trust is to avoid living probate and death probate and to reduce or even eliminate federal estate taxes. It's not a vehicle for reducing income taxes. In fact, if you're the trustee of your living trust, you will file your income tax returns exactly as you filed them before the trust existed. There are no new returns to file and no new liabilities are created.

YES. In fact, all real estate should be transferred into your living trust. Otherwise, upon your death, depending upon how you hold title, there will be a death probate in every state in which you hold real property. When your real property is owned by your living trust, there is no probate anywhere.

No. The living trust has been authorized by the law for centuries. The government really has no interest in making you or your family go through a probate that will only further clog up the legal system. A living trust avoids probate so that your estate is settled exactly according to your wishes.

No. A living trust can help anyone protect his or her family from unnecessary probate fees, attorney's fees, court costs and federal estate taxes. In fact, if your estate is greater than $100,000, you'll find a living trust offers substantial benefits for you and your family.

No. You should choose an attorney whose practice is focused on estate planning. Members of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys receive continuing legal education on the latest changes in any law affecting estate planning, allowing them to provide you with the highest-quality estate planning service anywhere.