Video Summary

Which is it better to have a Will or a Trust? Well, there’s no good answer or there isn’t an answer to that. Without knowing this, your circumstances, as far as everyone should have a Will that says that whatever assets that they have in their name alone, at the time of their death, that they, wish to leave it to and name the beneficiaries. And if you have a Trust, well the Will will simply say, well, I won’t leave everything to my Trust and have it identified in the Will and by date and name, with Trust whenever to set one up. You need to have a reason for doing that. So whenever someone says, well, I want a Trust, I say, well, why do you want a Trust? And if you, particularly have a special needs, a person that you want to provide for, well that’s a good reason to have a Trust or set up a Trust if you have beneficiaries who, suffer from addictions or whatever. You want them to be able to have the money but not have access to it because you’re concerned about it being squandered or even having a Trust for beneficiaries who are minors and you want to provide for their education and have the money held for their health, education and maintenance to reach a certain age.
So these are some of the reasons why you might want to establish a Trust. Many times your folks come in and say, well, I want to avoid probate. And depending on how complex your estate plan is, if it is relatively simple, you can, avoid the expense of setting up a Trust and simply designate beneficiaries on your bank account, execute life estate deeds as far as your real estate’s concerned in order to avoid probate without the necessity of a trust. Also with Wills, anytime a Will does have to be probated. If there are assets, they’re in the decedent’s name. So if you have any questions about having a Will, or preparing a Trust or how to avoid probate without a Trust, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.