Revocable Living Trust in 2020 Explained

In all areas of law and finance, we see gradual trends. It is no different with estate planning and revocable living trusts.

When you die with assets titled in your name, like real estate or investments, those assets are frozen. Your survivors will likely be required to hire attorneys to guide them through the court-supervised probate process which is required to have assets transferred after someone dies to their heirs. Many perceive this process as expensive, time-consuming, and an all around inconvenience, particularly since it must be begun shortly after the passing of a loved one.

Some people, in an attempt to make their estate settlement simpler, will create a revocable living trust and transfer assets to their trust knowing that assets in a trust don't have to go through the court-supervised probate process when they die. In their trust, they designate who will be the trustee when they die, and who will receive the trust assets (beneficiaries) when they die.

Over the years, most states have attempted to pass legislation making it easier for survivors to gain access to certain assets of a deceased person. Examples of this include: beneficiary designations, Transfer on Death (TOD - not recognized in Louisiana), Payable on Death (POD), Joint Tenants with Rights of Survivorship (JTWROS not recognized in Louisiana), bank accounts which permit signature authority by another, procedures at Office of Motor Vehicles that permit title transfers after death without court orders, and in Louisiana, the Small Succession Affidavit, which permits of Louisiana residents who die intestate with assets totaling less than $125,000 to be settled without formal judicial proceedings.

But even if you can use some of these titling "shortcuts" to keep some assets out of probate, you're likely to have assets in your name that will require a probate. And, you don't want to use these "shortcuts" if you need a trust due to leaving assets to minors, special needs heirs, or people you don't want to leave a lump sum to.

The general feeling I get from most goes something like, "I'd like to do whatever I can to make things easier for my survivors, and if I can set things up so they don't have to go through the lawyers and the courts to gain access to what I leave them, then that's what I'd like to do."

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This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Rabalais Estate Planning, LLC, through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship.

Paul Rabalais
Louisiana Estate Planning Attorney
www.RabalaisEstatePlanning.com
Phone: (225) 329-2450

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