St. Augustine Estate Planning Attorney

Living trusts are effective vehicles to help protect your assets and keep your family out of probate. While we will give you some steps towards creating these trusts, they are not always as simple as they seem. Nonetheless, here is the basic outline of what you should do to create a living trust.

Select the Type of Trust

There are many types of trusts available, and you need to choose the one that works best for your situation. The main choice is whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable.

Inventory Your Property

Your trust will need to contain some property. You should figure out all of the possible properties that you can put into the trust.

Select a Successor Trustee

Every trust must have a trustee to administer it. In a living trust, this is you, so long as you have the capacity. You will eventually need a successor trustee for when you die or do not have the capacity to manage the trust anymore. This should be someone that you trust who has the knowledge and skill to do the job.

Choose Beneficiaries

Each trust must have a beneficiary who will receive the assets eventually. This could be a person or a charity. Make sure that you closely consider who you want to get assets and who you may want to get nothing. You should also review accounts such as life insurance and retirement for any conflicts among beneficiaries.

Draft the Documents

A trust needs a trust instrument to become effective. This sets out the terms of the trust. An attorney can help you draft and execute the necessary documents.