By: San Fernando Valley Living Trust Attorney, Mina Sirkin
Purpose of a Living Trust for San Fernando Valley Residents: When you set up a living trust, there are a few purposes that come into mind: 1) Avoiding Probate is a consideration for most people and attorneys who prepare trusts. 2) Avoiding a Conservatorship is a secondary purpose of a trust. 3) Controlling inheritances of children and loved ones in a manner suitable to each individual beneficiary is another reason to have a living trust.
Uniformity Between a Living Trust and Will
There are some uniformities between a Living Trust and a Will. Both documents serve as a way to dispose of assets at death. The function of a trustee of a trust is similarly or akin to that of an executor of a trust. Usually, the person you name as the successor trustee of your trust is the same person that you name as your executor. Why? Because if an asset is left out of the trust the function of the will is to pour it back into the living trust, and therefore, it makes sense that the executor be the same person as the successor trustee.
Functions of a Living Trust During Life
A benefit of a trust is that it helps prevent a conservatorship in most cases when the trust is properly funded. There are times when a conservatorship must be established to protect the individual trustor, so those situations are some of the times when a living trust then may get court supervised by the court. For the most part, assets that are properly titled in the name of a living trust are intended also to skip conservatorship in normal cases.
Flexibility in Handling Assets at Death
There is flexibility in a living trust because its terms can be manipulated to fit the needs of specific beneficiaries, by creating subtracts for beneficiaries. For example, if you have a beneficiary who has had a history of drug or alcohol abuse, you may consider setting up terms for this beneficiary separately and having his or her subtrust require alcohol or substance testing before a distribution is made, or restricting the distributions to specific things like rent and food.
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Protective Measures Are Possible In a Trust
A settlor or trustor of a trust can also protect himself from others by restricting the terms of the trust. An example may be that the trustor may state that the assets may not be withdrawn from the trust. This prevents others from unduly influencing the trustor to gift the assets by withdrawal. Also limitations on amendments are effective ways of self-protection in a living trust.
San Fernando Valley Living Trusts
To make a free living trust appointment, contact the Living Trust Attorneys in San Fernando Valley. Call or contact, Mina Sirkin, San Fernando Valley Living Trust attorney at 818.340.4479 or email us at Info@SirkinLaw.com for a free living trust consultation.
