When you die, what will happen to your assets? If you do not have an estate plan, your family might have to fight over your things and go to court to decide what to do with the items. If you want to simplify things for your family, you need an estate plan. One tool you can use in your plan is a living trust. If you are not sure what this is, here is an explanation and some reasons you should have one.

What a Living Trust Is

A living trust is a document that creates an entity. The entity is your estate, and you place your assets into it while you are alive. To do this, you must first create the living trust. Next, you must add the names of every asset you own to the trust. After doing this, the trust owns the assets. This document gives your family guidance after you die. It tells them who gets your things, and it provides many benefits to your loved ones.

The Benefits of Having a Living Trust

Having a living trust provides many advantages. The first advantage is that it allows your family to receive your assets without going to probate. Probate is a court, and this court is expensive and time-consuming. People need probate court when they must settle an estate without a will or other estate planning tools. If you must go to probate, it will cost a lot of money, and it leaves the decisions in the judge's hands. With a living trust, you can avoid this requirement.  

The second advantage of a living trust is that it speeds up the process of dividing and transferring assets from an estate. When you have a living trust, it is easy to transfer the assets. The document tells you exactly how to divide the things, and you must follow what it says.

One last advantage of a living trust is the privacy. When an estate goes to probate, the entire case becomes public knowledge. When you settle an estate with a living trust, no one knows anything. The case is private, and it will not become public knowledge.

If you want to create a plan for your things, you need an estate plan. Creating a will is one option, but you can also choose from other tools. The best option is to meet with an estate planning attorney to determine what is best for your situation.

To learn more, contact a resource like Abom & Kutulakis LLP.