A Revocable Living Trust or Inter Vivos Trust is created to allow a transfer of an individual’s assets into a trust to provide a means to manage those assets while alive and distribute those assets upon death. The Creator or Grantor of the trust will name a trustee whose responsibility is to maintain the trust assets. Typically the Grantor names himself as the trustee, while alive, and names a successor trustee to distribute the assets in the manner of the trust provisions, at death. You might want to consider a Living Trust over a traditional Will and Testament. The following are some of the A, B, C’s of Living Trusts to help you make a decision.

Avoid Probate:

Unlike a Will, a Living Trust does not go through probate. Probate is the process whereby the Court reviews the will and tries to be sure that all interested parties are notified about the Will and affords the opportunity for parties to contest the Will. While probate is not typically a lengthy process, it can be under certain situations. Therefore, a Living Trust can be a more expeditious process than a Will in distribution to the named beneficiaries.

Be Private:

When a person passes away, her Will, during probate, is recorded and becomes a public document. A Living Trust does not go through probate and, therefore, will not become a public document. If you have distributions that you wish to keep discrete, a Living Trust may be the more appropriate tool.

Combined with a Pour Over Will:

Many times, a pour over will will be drafted in combination with a Living Trust. A pour over will has a provision that directs any estate assets, not already being held in the Living Trust, be added to the Living Trust corpus upon your death. It should be noted that the pour over will itself must go through probate.