Benefits of a Living Trust: Part 1

1. Eliminates Living Probate
A Living Trust helps your family avoid court expenses and time-consuming procedures if you become mentally or physically incapable of managing your assets. The successor trustee you have chosen in advance will manage all of your affairs to your written specifications.

2. Protects Assets if You are Disabled
Getting quality nursing home and rehabilitative care if you or your spouse become disabled or incapacitated can be extremely expensive. A Living Trust can help you qualify for government assistance with those expenses. In this scenario, neither caretakers nor the government can deplete your estate, and Medicaid may even pay for your nursing home or in-home care.

3. Avoids Death Probate
Without a Living Trust, your estate will have to go through the very long and expensive process of Death Probate in court, even if you have a Last Will and Testament. When you have a Living Trust, you avoid those costs and your estate can be distributed quickly by performing a Trust Administrator without court interference or public scrutiny.

4. Maintains Privacy
Everyone from neighbors, to relatives who feel slighted, and ambitious sales people and scam artists can view every detail of your estate when it enters probate court (including your assets, debts, beneficiaries, and more). This lack of confidentiality is completely avoided by a Living Trust because it is administered privately.