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The grief of losing a loved one is often heightened by a lack of estate planning. Preserve your wishes and save your family emotional and financial strain by contacting an estate planning attorney at TK Law to properly settle your estate in a trust or through probate.
An Estate Based Exclusively on a Will Goes Through Probate
Basically, when the estate of the deceased is based solely upon a will, all assets transferred to heirs have to go through probate. That is the primary drawback. As our video explains, probate is a lengthy public court process through which assets pass before reaching the intended beneficiary.
An Estate Based on a Trust Can Eliminate Probate
A trust (and commonly a revocable living trust) is designed to transfer assets and any related responsibilities to the designated beneficiary. The creator of the trust is called the grantor. Any asset in a trust is removed from the grantor’s ownership. Therefore, that asset is not part of the estate. This is how assets passed via a trust go directly to heirs without the hindrance of probate.
There are other important differences between a revocable living trust and probate, including the time each takes, the privacy of the process, and the ability to handle complex asset transfers.
Speak with an experienced Florida attorney at our firm today.
Call 855-Kramer-Now (855-572-6376).
Privacy Concerns with Probate vs. Revocable Living Trust
The probate process is extremely public. It includes putting notice in the local newspaper of what is occurring in your family’s business, and also gives creditors the opportunity to make claims against the estate. Anyone can go to the courthouse and see how the probate estate was distributed and to whom. Probate may also require you to actually appear in court in the midst of your grieving.
With a trust, most all matters are kept between you and your attorney aside from input required from certain officials.
Time Involved in Trust and Probate Administration
Probate often involves an attorney reaching out to family members all over the country based on next of kin to the deceased in order to inform them of the probate proceedings. Each person is given a set amount of time to respond or make any claims on the estate. This process can take as long as a year to complete.
What does this mean for the spouse or young children of the deceased? Any money intended to go directly to them can be sealed up in the courts for however long the process takes.
A trust can be written with language that passes assets to heirs immediately upon the grantor’s death. You can look at a trust as a bank account with money available. As soon as information is transferred over and all information properly filed, then the finances are available to the beneficiary.
Handling Complicated Situations
For many people with very modest estates and simple inheritance objectives, a will and the ensuing probate process may be adequate for all practical purposes.
Others with more complicated estates and inheritance instructions will benefit from a revocable living trust. Trusts can be designed for a variety of estate planning purposes. Spouses may need to create protections for loved ones as they see fit. For example, a husband may need to set up a trust to financially support his surviving wife and also transfer specific assets to children from different previous marriages, as well as various grandchildren.
Discuss Trust and Probate with Orlando Estate Planning Attorneys
At TK Law, we sit down with each of our clients to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of several estate planning options and tools. We know that at the end of the day it is our client’s decision for what is best for his or her family after death, and we get to work preparing those plans so that you – and your family – can be at peace.
Contact TK Law today.
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