Anyone who has any assets should consider implementing an entity known as the living trust.
It is one of the most effective tools to prevent the burden and expense of probate court.
Probate is difficult for most of us to talk about as it brings up the concept of our limited mortality and eventual death.
Probate is a legal term that most people don't understand.
It is this legal term that is used to complete an individual's legal and financial affairs after his or her death.
Through this process debts are paid,taxes are filed and administrative [attorney's] fees are paid.
And then the remaining assets are distributed to the beneficiaries fo the estate as determined in the will or without a will according to state law.
It is expensive using up to 10 percent of the assets and it is also very lengthy taking over one year to solve this process.
Privacy is another big problem with probate court as anyone can find out what assets, property and money are involved in the estate.
Thus, in order to maintain your privacy and also the privacy of your heirs, you should consider a living trust.
To create a living trust, assets are transferred into the trust, a trustee is named to oversee the operation of the trust.
The beauty of this concept is that the trustee can be the same person who sets up the trust and provides the assets.
When death occurs, the assets of the trust are transferred to a predesignated person and thus avoiding probate court.
There are several other reasons only one of which is avoiding probate court that one should consider a living trust.
They include: provides estate planning, allows you to provide for your heirs in the manner that you wish, saves on estate taxes, allows transfer of businesses from one generation to another without interruption.
Very few of us have taken advantage of the benefits that a living trust can provide, Since life seems to speed by quickly for all us, this seems like a common sense answer to prevent difficulties for those we wish to provide for in the next generation.
[http://www.
astewart37.
com] Word derivation for the day: Blind Justice or how did justice come to be called blind? Justice is usually represented in Greek statues as wearing a blindfold and holding a pair of scales.
She was blindfolded so that she couldn't see the bribes that were being offered to her.
The Egyptians carried this idea even further.
They conducted their trials in a darkened chamber so that the witnesses, the pleader and the prisoner couldn't be seen by the judges.