More on Revocable Trusts

In our last post we discussed the value of a revocable trust and how it can help people avoid probate.


Other reasons for creating a revocable trust include:

• Minimizing estate taxes
• Keeping assets available for children until they reach adulthood

Of course there could be additional advantages associated with creating a revocable trust that are unique to a family's specific circumstances. It's best to review your situation with an attorney and discuss the many reasons that revocable trusts are helpful to an estate plan.

Avoiding Probate Part 2: Revocable Trusts

As noted in our February 13 post, there are certain methods that can help you avoid probate. An additional method is to create a revocable trust.


One advantage of a revocable trust for probate avoidance is that, when it is established and properly funded, it ensures a consistent estate plan. Too often, when people rely on designated beneficiaries and joint ownership, the result is a plan that is skewed unintentionally toward one or another beneficiary. The reason for this is that if you have multiple beneficiary designations, and you change one but forgot to change the others, you may create a different distribution than the one you had in mind. 


By contrast, with a revocable trust, the change can be made once (by means of an amendment to the trust) and this will affect all assets.