The Wood Law Group: Your Las Vegas Living Trust Attorney
Revocable Living Trust Lawyers Las Vegas
Have you ever wondered how your assets will be managed when you are no longer around to oversee them? Owning business ventures and acquiring assets are goals that require time and effort throughout one’s lifetime, and thus, it is critical to manage and safeguard them correctly.
Creating a revocable living trust is an excellent way to meet your estate planning goals and control the management of your assets before and after death.
An experienced living trust lawyer can create a legally sound living trust to protect your estate and avoid a court-supervised process like probate.
Purpose of a Living Trust
A living trust is a legally recognized document the grantor creates while they are alive. The living trust dictates how the grantor wants their property managed during their lifetime and even after death. It also spells out the trustees and beneficiaries of the grantor’s properties. It has many advantages, including potential tax benefits.
Once a living trust is created, it takes ownership of the money and assets transferred to it. Upon the grantor’s death, everything in the trust will be transferred to the named beneficiary or beneficiaries according to the terms stipulated in the living trust.
A trust may be an irrevocable or revocable living trust. In revocable trusts, the grantor is generally named the trustee and controls all the assets the revocable trust document covers. As such, the grantor may modify or revoke the trust at any time. After their death, the revocable trust assets pass to their beneficiaries.
On the other hand, irrevocable trusts allow the grantor to distribute their assets to beneficiaries while they are living permanently. As such, they cease to control the assets covered by the trust. The trustee becomes the legal owner of the assets enlisted in the trust document. Consequently, the trust assets are no longer deemed to be part of the grantor’s estate.
A family trust can be either revocable or irrevocable.
How to Establish a Living Trust in Las Vegas, NV
Below are some of the steps you should follow to create a living trust in Las Vegas:
- Decide the type of trust you want to make.
- Decide the terms that would guide the distribution of assets under the trust.
- Appoint the trustees or successor trustees, as the case may be.
- Include the name of the beneficiaries of the trust.
- Create the trust document with the help of an attorney.
- Sign the documents in the presence of witnesses and have them notarized.
- Transfer assets into the trust.
Estate planning attorneys such as the Wood Law Group can play an instrumental role in the trust creation process in Las Vegas and ensure that all legal obligations have been met.
Benefits of a Living Trust
Living trusts offer a range of benefits to the grantor and their family, which include the following:
Safeguarding the Grantor’s Assets While They Are Alive:
The trust document is critical in the estate plan as it allows the grantor to include how they want their property managed when incapacitated. Trusts also allow the grantor to put their mind at ease regarding the management of assets during their lifetime and after death.
Probate-Free
Unlike assets distributed under wills, assets under trusts do not have to be approved through the arduous and long-drawn probate process. Creating a revocable living trust helps the family avoid probate before they gain complete control of their inheritance. It also helps the family avoid having to make private information about them public through court records.
Control
With trusts, the grantor may decide how and when assets pass to their beneficiary and stipulate the purpose for which they were granted. This asset protection measure ensures the wishes of the grantor are strictly followed.
Protect your estate with a living trust. Call an experienced estate planning Las Vegas law firm today.
What Are the Major Disadvantages of Revocable Living Trusts?
Living trusts are not without certain disadvantages that may discourage people from creating them, such as;
Change in Ownership of Assets
Setting up a trust is quite simple, but the assets it covers must be transferred into it. Assets such as furniture or jewelry are usually transferred through a document that grants the right of ownership. However, the titles of assets like homes and other real estate must be altered to reflect their incorporation into the trust.
Costs
The process of transferring the title requires paperwork and payment of filing fees. This process may even become more difficult if it involves complicated assets or the alteration of many titles. Notably, these fees are separate from the attorney fees required to draw up the living trust documents.
What Does a Living Trust Attorney Do?
A trust lawyer will do the following:
- Listen to your concerns about protecting and distributing your assets and create a living trust to reflect such wishes.
- Help you list all of your assets and have them titled in the name of your trust.
- Structure your living trust to protect your family’s privacy.
Are you still wondering How can a trust lawyer help you? Creating a living trust requires experience to ensure necessary procedures have been followed. Wood Law Group has an experienced team of attorneys will carefully listen to your family’s situation and expectations, form a reliable attorney-client relationship, and help you create a living trust and estate plan.
Contact us to schedule a free consultation to discuss your estate planning needs today!
Frequently Asked Questions
What Happens to a Trust When the Trust Owner is Incapacitated or Dies?
In the case of death or incapacitation, the assets in the trust pass to the beneficiaries. As such, the trustees, co-trustees, or beneficiaries must be named in the trust document. Naturally, a revocable living trust becomes irrevocable once the trust owner dies. A trust may also become irrevocable if the trust owner is incapacitated.
Does a Revocable Living Trust Have to Go Through Probate?
A trust document is an estate planning method of avoiding probate. The assets are transferred directly to the named beneficiaries in tandem with the terms stipulated by the grantor in the trust document. Consequently, unlike wills, information about the grantor and their beneficiaries is kept confidential in the case of a trust. You can find out more in our comprehensive guide to probate laws.
However, where the grantor fails to incorporate any asset acquired during their lifetime within the coverage of the trust, such assets will have to go through the probate process. It is essential to review the trust document often and incorporate any new property into the trust to avoid probate.
Can I Make My Own Living Trust in Nevada?
Yes, you can make your living trust in Nevada. However, the process involves a thorough understanding of Nevada law and the estate planning process, which is why most people prefer to hire an attorney.
Creating a living trust involves deciding on the type of trust, defining the terms of asset distribution, appointing trustees, naming beneficiaries, and more. Errors in any of these steps could lead to potential legal issues in the future. Therefore, seeking professional help is generally recommended to ensure all legalities are correctly addressed.
