Revocable Living Trust

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A Revocable Living Trust is a legal entity that holds title to your assets during your lifetime.

Typically, you serve as your own Trustee while you are alive and capable of managing your affairs. This means you continue to control your property exactly as you do today.

You may:

• Buy and sell property 
• Open and close bank accounts 
• Invest assets 
• Amend the Trust 
• Revoke the Trust entirely 

Nothing changes in your day-to-day financial life—except that your assets are owned by your Trust instead of your individual name.

 A properly funded Revocable Living Trust can provide several important benefits.

Depending on your circumstances, a trust may:

• Help avoid probate for assets owned by the Trust 
• Provide privacy after death 
• Simplify management during incapacity 
• Reduce delays in transferring assets 
• Coordinate management of multiple properties 
• Provide ongoing management for beneficiaries 
• Protect young or financially inexperienced beneficiaries 
• Simplify administration for your family 

Every family's goals are different, which is why every trust should be customized.

 While you are living and competent:

• You remain in complete control. 
• You usually serve as Trustee. 
• You may change or revoke the Trust whenever you choose. 

If you later become incapacitated:

Your Successor Trustee can step in and continue managing the Trust assets without the need for court intervention.

After your death:

Your Successor Trustee distributes the Trust property according to the instructions you have written into the Trust.

 Often, yes—but only for assets that are properly transferred into the Trust.

This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of trust planning.

Simply signing a Trust does not avoid probate.

Your assets must generally be retitled into the name of the Trust (commonly called "funding the trust").

We help our clients understand which assets should be transferred into the Trust and how that process works.

Not necessarily.

For some individuals and families, a carefully prepared Will provides all the planning they need.

For others—particularly those with multiple properties, blended families, significant assets, privacy concerns, or more complex planning goals—a Revocable Living Trust may offer important advantages.

Estate planning is never one-size-fits-all.

Our goal is to recommend the planning strategy that best fits your circumstances—not simply the most complex one.

Many different types of property may be transferred into a Revocable Living Trust, including:

• Real estate 
• Bank accounts 
• Brokerage accounts 
• Business interests 
• Investment property 
• Personal property 
• Certain mineral interests 

Some assets—such as retirement accounts and life insurance—often require different planning strategies rather than simply transferring ownership to the Trust.

 One of the greatest advantages of a Revocable Living Trust is continuity.

If you become unable to manage your affairs, your Successor Trustee can immediately begin managing Trust assets according to the instructions you've provided.

This often reduces the need for a court-supervised guardianship involving Trust property.

Yes.

Even clients with a Revocable Living Trust should have a carefully drafted Pour-Over Will.

A Pour-Over Will directs assets that were unintentionally left outside the Trust into the Trust after death and allows other important provisions—such as guardian nominations for minor children—to be included in your estate plan.

The Trust and the Will work together.

Yes.

As long as you have legal capacity, you may amend or revoke your Revocable Living Trust at any time.

Yes.

Although the Trust becomes the legal owner of Trust assets, you generally continue serving as Trustee and maintain complete control over those assets during your lifetime.

No.

While trusts are often associated with high-net-worth families, many middle-income families benefit from trust planning depending on their goals, family dynamics, and the types of assets they own.

Not by itself.

Most Revocable Living Trusts are designed primarily to simplify asset management and transfer property—not to eliminate federal estate taxes.

Yes.

When a trust is the appropriate planning tool, we prepare customized Revocable Living Trusts along with all supporting documents needed to create a coordinated estate plan.

There is no single answer.

Some families are best served by a comprehensive Will-based estate plan.

Others benefit significantly from a Revocable Living Trust.

During your consultation, we'll discuss your assets, your family, and your long-term goals before recommending the planning strategy that best protects the people you care about.