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My parents had a living revocable trust . My dad recently died.. My mom is still alive and has moved in with my family..I'm not an expert, but in a will, you've said what you want to go where, but once you die, this will needs to go through probate which from my understanding can be a long drawn out proces-a year?? and there is a cost to it..
In a revocable trust- it's made/completed while "living" and is "revocable"-or means you can revoke it and change it while alive..In the trust it is a very lengthy legal document..The individuals who make the trust- my mom and dad- are trustees of the trust..Their assets become part of the trust.They had to fill out forms for each asset to do this..My parents CDs, mutual funds, bank accounts are held in trust..When their statements come from the bank, it doesn't say mr and mrs h but the revocable h trust or something like that..If my mom were to sell her home, the proceeds would be placed into the trust:ie a new CD..Successor trustees are named in the trust should someone not be able to act as trustee.When my dad died, my mom is now the trustee..Should my mom become unable to perform this function she can sign a paper which indicates that I am the successor trustee..It also states that when my parents die, how the assets in the trust are divided up..Such as so much to children, so much to grandchildren etc...This distribution does not go through probate..I'm not sure if it's immediate, but there's no court process..It avoids cost of probate andd lengthy process tho there is still a legal cost to make the trust. I have found that with my mom, it's been very difficult to do things at the bank for her because her stuff is in a trust-this legal document..Even tho I have a financila power of attorney for my mom, the banks don't recognize it and I have had to jump through many hoops to advocate for my mom's assets..And now it's become an issue with my siblings if you've follwoed the need to vent topic..
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03-22-2009, 10:41 PM
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