A Conversation with Vaughan Drinkard about Trusts

What is a Revocable Living Trust?

A Revocable Living Trust is a legal document that provides you with the ultimate benefits of ironclad estate planning while maintaining complete control of your assets now and in the future. This legal tool allows you as Trustmaker to enter into a contract with yourself designated as trustee. You continue to manage your assets during your lifetime, provide planning should you become disabled, and control the disbursement of your assets upon your passing. Your trust lives on after you!

Why Do I Want a Revocable Living Trust?

Certainty and Peace of Mind

A Revocable Living Trust allows you, as the Trustmaker, to set out a clear plan for the organization and handling of your assets. The document is so specific that it can do everything from providing for a loved one with special needs to protecting assets from an unintended beneficiary. Knowing that your assets will be handled exactly in the way you wish is invaluable.

Control and Flexibility

You, as the Trustmaker, maintain complete control of your assets during your lifetime. Your trust’s terms can be changed or added to at any time.

Avoidance of Probate

Probate is the court-supervised process of distributing a person’s assets at their passing. Depending on the estate, probate can be a lengthy and expensive process. Because the title to your property is held in a trust, you can completely avoid Probate. This avoidance allows for your assets to be immediately available to your beneficiaries at your passing or to be distributed however you wish all while completely avoiding fees and probate charges.

Uninterrupted Management of Assets During Disability

Because the trust begins working at the time you sign it, your instructions are followed during your lifetime including any time during which you are disabled. In the event of your disability, a trusted manager (who you designate) steps in to manage your affairs until you are again able to do so.

Privacy

A Living Trust is a private document between the parties named in the document and therefore does not become part of any public record. This protects your personal business from the prying eyes of business rivals, potential creditors, or others who would seek to prey upon your hard-earned assets.

What is the Cost of a Revocable Living Trust?

Revocable Living Trusts generally more than pay for themselves by avoiding the egregious costs of Probate. The initial start-up fee varies depending on the complexity and the assets involved, but generally start around $3,000.00.