A living trust, also known as a revocable living trust, is an entity that is created to manage ownership of your assets. The person who creates this trust initially is known as the grantor and in many cases, will also serve as the trustee or the person who manages the assets inside the trust itself. Some trust makers, however, choose to appoint another person as a trustee, such as an attorney.
But more often than not, a revocable living trust involves the same trustee as it does a grantor. In order to create a living trust, you need to have some different items organized. These include:
- Your name, city, state and the date that your documents will be signed.
- Possible beneficiary names.
- The name of the trustee.
- Distribution plans for how you want assets inside the trust to be distributed.
- A list of the assets to be placed inside the trust including an overall value and a description of them.
- Determining plans for tangible assets, such as dictating how these might be distributed including jewelry, household items or vehicles.
In all of these circumstances, it is beneficial to have an estate planning lawyer craft your revocable living trust to minimize possible confusion or errors that could turn up problems down the road. If you believe that a revocable living trust might be one way for you to manage some of your estate planning, speak with a knowledgeable lawyer today.
