A Living Trust is a type of estate planning vehicle that helps your family, when properly funded, stay out of the probate courts and out of guardianship court.

A living trust is a legal document that allows you to place your assets in trust for the benefit of yourself or others during your lifetime. The person who creates the trust, known as the grantor, trustmaker, or settlor, can also be the trustee and the beneficiary. The main benefit of a living trust is that it allows you to avoid probate, which is the legal process of transferring your assets to your heirs after your death. Probate can be a lengthy and expensive process, and a living trust allows you to bypass it and ensure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes. Other benefits of a living trust include:

• Flexibility: You can customize a living trust to fit your specific needs and goals.
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• Privacy: Because a living trust is a private document, it can help you avoid the public probate process.
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• Control: As the grantor and trustee, you can retain control over your assets and how they are managed.
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• Efficient asset transfer: A living trust allows you to transfer assets to your beneficiaries more quickly than through probate.
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• Continuity: If you become incapacitated, a living trust allows you to appoint a successor trustee to manage your assets on your behalf.

It’s important to note that a living trust is just one of several estate planning tools that can be used to achieve your goals. An attorney or financial professional can help you determine if a living trust is the right choice for you. 

A trust allows you to protect those assets against the creditors of your beneficiaries. There is asset protection that could be done for your beneficiaries in those trusts.

Trusts are a wonderful way to not only avoid probate and avoid guardianship, but to keep all of these transactions in your life and what you work so hard to create private and out of the eyes of those who would otherwise see it in probate court or guardianship court.