There are many goals when planning your estate, but perhaps of highest importance is ensuring your heirs get their inheritances quickly. You have probably heard of probate and how that process can sometimes take quite a while. It is generally true that you should try to avoid probate in Louisiana. With that in mind, it may be a good idea to set up trusts for your heirs.
A trust can bypass some issues that your heirs may have if you only have a will. This is especially true if your estate has a value of over $1 million. Above all, it will help you to bypass probate. Probate is a public process, which means that your estate will become public knowledge. If you would rather that not happen, then you want to avoid having your estate go to court.
Trust benefits
A trust allows you to specify your desires. You can set up a trust that contains money that will only release to your son on his 21st birthday if that is what you want. You can put almost any type of asset in a trust, too. So, they are quite versatile. You also can modify the trust at any time during your lifetime as long as you set up a revocable trust.
A trust will settle in a shorter time than a will because you already have the details in place. The court does not have to step in to verify anything. Trusts are also helpful when you have assets in different states. For example, if you have a vacation home in Hawaii, when you die, if you just had a will, the Hawaii probate court would need to handle that asset. Your estate would then go through probate in two states, which can be time-consuming.
If you are putting together your estate plan, it is well worth it to consider adding some trusts for your various heirs and assets. This can save everyone a lot of trouble when you pass away.
