Wills and Trusts
The preservation and distribution of assets is the estate plan's primary goal. The question is how best to achieve it. The will (or last will and testament, as it is traditionally called) is a time honored legal instrument that gives you varying degrees of control over your assets after you die. It can be fairly straightforward and inexpensive to develop, and it's amendable, even revocable, during your lifetime. One disadvantage of the will is that it is usually subject to probate, a court-administered process that can be time consuming, costly and is necessarily a matter of public record.
An alternative to the will, increasingly common these days, is the revocable living trust. The RLT can help you maximize control over your assets not only after your death but during your lifetime as well. The RLT offers numerous advantages over the last will and testament, not the least of which is the privacy it ensures because of its freedom from probate. Properly designed, implemented, and funded, the RLT enables you to:
- Arrange for your own care, should you become ill or incapacitated
- Name a guardian and make provisions for minor children
- Plan for beneficiaries with special needs
- Ensure the expeditious transfer of assets, including real estate
- Exert control over the manner and timing of asset distributions
- Create a succession plan for your business
- Establish a legacy for future generations
- Guard your family's privacy
- Reduce estate taxes
Of course the revocable living trust, like any complex legal document, is only as good as the knowledge, planning, and care that goes into it. At McDowall Cotter we offer decades of experience with estate planning and a commitment to the kind of rigorous ongoing education that guarantees its integrity and success.