For some people in Pennsylvania and across the nation, a revocable living trust is an important part of their estate plan. While organizing your estate, you may want to consider the benefits of including such a trust in your plan, too.
Since you can modify a revocable living trust at any time, you can update the details of the document to match noteworthy changes in your life, like a new marriage. An irrevocable trust, on the other hand, is set in stone once signed.
What is a living trust?
A trust is created while you are alive and allows you to detail who you would like to inherit your property and assets once you pass away. Rather than go through the probate process, property and assets left in a revocable trust pass directly along to the named beneficiaries. This differs from a last will and testament, as the estate may go through the probate process.
What are the benefits of a trust?
In addition to bypassing the probate process, property and assets placed in a living trust have other benefits, including:
- Holding and protecting money and property for minor beneficiaries until they turn of age
- Ensuring your spouse does not take the estate’s value and refuse to distribute it to the intended beneficiaries
- Helping adult children manage money that they may otherwise spend carelessly
- Reducing real estate taxes on property and assets
Additionally, while estates that go through the probate process become public record, a trust can help you keep the matters of your estate completely private.