What Are the Drawbacks of a Living Trust?
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What are the drawbacks of a living trust? Well, the biggest drawback that I see the living trust is that it’s a complicated document. And then once you sign it you have to rely upon what the lawyer tells you. It says, rather than you’re trying to understand 16 or 17 pages of legal jargon. I always ask folks why they want to set up a trust. And if the simple reason for this is to avoid probate, I go through and I ask them, well, what assets do you have? And that’s simply a matter of real property, some bank accounts and a brokerage account. Those can be, we can avoid probate through titling. If you just have a, a couple of beneficiaries, if you wanna set up a trust because a person is disabled and you want them, a special needs trust.
So they don’t receive the money. Well, that’s a good reason to set up a living trust. Another good reason to set up a living trust is if you need to protect the beneficiaries from spending all the money, if they’re, either have some addiction problems, or they’re not good money managers, you want their money to be held until they reach a certain age, although they may receive the income. One of the other disadvantages of a living trust is the cost to set them up in that’s usually there more expensive. I would also do not unless under severe duress ever set up a joint trust between husband and wife. I still do, but it’s usually it’s not needed particularly to avoid probate. And also you don’t want to put at your homestead property, your home into a joint trust. It creates problems as far as when the first spouse passes away. So if you have any questions about setting up a trust, give me a call and (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos
If I Have a Living Trust, Should I Also Have a Will?
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If I have a living trust, should I have a will answer? The question is yes, those are called Pour- Over wills, meaning that your will says I leave whatever assets that I may have that are just titled in. I name to the trustee of my trust, the trust, then the trustee designates who the beneficiaries are, what I have found over my career that sometimes trust are set up and are fine and dandy. They designate who all the beneficiaries are, but for whatever reason, the assets of the decedent are not titled into the name of the trustee. And so there must be a probate proceeding to have the assets transferred to the trustee so they can be distributed to the beneficiaries. So without a will leaving it to the trust, well then the assets would pass to the children or the heirs of the decedent, which is probably not the same as the testament scheme or who you wanted to receive these assets as, as a result of executing a trust. So that is a real good reason to have a will. That leaves everything to the trustee and your trust upon your death in the event. So that any assets that you have in your name alone will go to your trustee to be distributed to your designated beneficiaries. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos
Does A Living Trust Avoid Estate and Probate Taxes?
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Does a living trust avoid estate and probate taxes? The answer to that question is no, it does not. So let let’s talk about the estate taxes in the state of Florida, Florida has done away with their estate tax. The federal government has raised the federal estate tax limit to 11.8 million. So if your estate is less than, 11.8 million, you don’t have to worry about probate taxes. Also if it’s you live in Florida, your Florida assets are not subject to estate taxes. The only time that you may be concerned about estate taxes is if you own real estate outside the state of Florida, wherever the real estate is situated, then that state may have an estate as far as that’s concerned, as far as probate taxes. They’re not necessarily a probate tax that as far as probate expenses, which is primary attorney fees and it can avoid probate. But there still may be some attorney fees involved as far as the administration of the estate. So if you have any questions about your revocable trust, we’ll give a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Taxes, Videos
Should Bank Accounts of the Deceased Person Be Closed Immediately Upon Death?
Video Summary
Should a bank account of the deceased person be closed immediately upon death? First off, we would need to determine whether or not it is a joint account. If it’s a joint account, particularly between husband and wife, I do not suggest that it be closed immediately. The reason for that is if a check comes in a payable to the decedent, you need to have some place to deposit it so that you wouldn’t have to go through a probate proceeding in order to cash the check. If however, the account is just in the decedent’s name, I suggest that you may want to deliver a death certificate to the bank and ask them to freeze the account. You would then need to go through a probate proceeding in order to close the account and collect the proceeds. So, if you have any questions about how to collect the money from, deceased bank account, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Probate, Videos
How Do I Release a Vehicle Lien?
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How do I release a lien on a motor vehicle in Florida? Well, you have to sign a motor vehicle lien release, which is a form that you can obtain from the tax collector’s office. And that their agents for the department of motor vehicles that needs to be signed and given to the to the person who you’re satisfying your lien on their vehicle. You do not sign the lien on the title itself, you sign a lien release, which is a separate form. If you have any questions, I’ll be glad to try and answer those. Probably the tax collector’s office might be a better resource, but I’ll be glad that speak to you. My phone number (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Probate, Videos