Estate Planning and Children

One of the major goals are to minimize conflict of the children upon a death or incapacity and to set up an estate plan that is realistic and easy to administer. One of the main benefits of a Revocable Living Trust or otherwise known as "Living Trust" is probate avoidance. Probate avoidance is avoiding the pain and agony of the court upon a death called "Probate court". Probate court is the court where family disputes and inheritance matters are heard and resolved. One myth is wills are a way to avoid probate court. This is not true and a Living Trust is a more responsible estate plan to avoid probate court. A Living Trust also assists your children avoid the pain of a family fight because unlike a will, a Living Trust does not require the beneficiaries of an estate to notify the non-family beneficiaries.

The second goal of estate planning is creating an easy transition period upon one's death. As explained above, a will must undergo probate court, which is an expensive and time consuming process. On the contrary, a Living Trust is a estate planning tool that avoids the pain and agony of probate court. A Living Trust is a private document, which transfers real estate and other assets outside of probate court. Thus, a Living Trust may be administered within a period of thirty (30) days or less.

Sean Robertson is an estate planning and asset protection attorney concentrating in estate planning, elder law, and asset protection. Sean Robertson may be reached at either (312) 498-6080 or (630) 364-2318.