Revocable Living Trust Attorney in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach & Palm Coast, FL

Create a Customized Estate Plan to Protect Your Assets and Avoid Probate

A revocable living trust is a vital estate planning tool that offers flexibility, privacy, and peace of mind about safeguarding your legacy. Typically called just a “living trust,” these trusts give you control over your assets during your lifetime and allow for a smooth and uneventful management of the trust and the distribution of your assets when you pass away. Our Daytona Beach area, Ormond Beach, and Palm Coast estate planning attorney can help you create a trust, tailored to your needs, family dynamics, and long-term goals, to ensure your assets are distributed according to your wishes without the delay and expense of probate. 

What Is a Revocable Living Trust?

Unlike a will, which becomes effective after your death and goes through probate, a revocable living trust operates while you are alive. It is a legal entity created during your lifetime to hold and manage assets that allows for private, streamlined transfers. You can serve as trustee, manage the trust, and amend or revoke it anytime while you are alive and not incapacitated. You name a successor trustee to step in and manage or distribute trust assets according to your instructions upon your death or incapacity. 

What Are the Benefits of a Revocable Living Trust?

A revocable living trust offers several key benefits and allows you to do the following:

Avoid Probate

A revocable living trust has several powerful advantages. Probate is the court-supervised process of distributing assets through a will. It can be lengthy and costly. With a living trust, the individual you love can avoid the stress and delay of probate proceedings.

Maintain Privacy

While a will becomes part of the public record, trusts are private. Your estate’s details remain confidential when distributed through a revocable living trust. The living trust can help protect your family’s privacy and prevent disputes.

Plan for Incapacity

Your living trust may include provisions for incapacity. If you should become unable to manage your affairs due to injury or illness, your successor trustee can step in immediately to handle your finances, avoiding the need for a court-appointed guardian or conservator.

Control Asset Distribution

Trusts allow for more flexibility than wills. You can specify conditions on when and how your assets are distributed. For example, you can distribute assets in stages over time or delay an inheritance until a beneficiary reaches a certain age.

Transfer Multistate Properties Efficiently

If you own property in multiple states, a revocable living trust may be the right vehicle for you. It allows those assets to pass to your named beneficiaries without going through probate in each state. 

What Assets Can Be Placed in a Living Trust?

Nearly any asset can be transferred into a revocable living trust. Retitling your assets in the trust’s name is essential and must be performed accurately. Our experienced estate planning attorney can ensure the process is complete so your trust will operate as intended. The following are examples of assets that can be placed in a trust:

• Real estate (including your primary residence and other properties)
• Business interests
• Motor vehicles
• Bank accounts
• Investment accounts
• Personal property, such as art, jewelry, and collectibles

Do You Need a Will If You Have a Trust?

When you establish a revocable living trust, you should have a “pour-over will” in place. This serves as a safety net to catch any assets that were not properly transferred into the trust during your lifetime. It ensures any such assets will be “poured over” into the trust after your death and distributed accordingly. 

A will is also necessary to name guardians for minor children. This cannot be accomplished with a trust, but requires both a trust and a will. Guardianship of minor children is a legal appointment of the court if both parents are deceased or unable to care for them. You must name a guardian or guardians in a will, or the court may appoint someone you would not have chosen. 

What Is the Difference Between an Irrevocable and a Revocable Trust?

A revocable living trust can be amended or revoked during your lifetime, provided you are not incapacitated. Once established, an irrevocable trust cannot be changed without the consent of the beneficiaries. The following are the key differences:

• Revocable living trust: You retain full control of the assets and can make changes to the trust at any time. Because they remain under your control, trust assets are not shielded from creditors or nursing home costs for long-term care planning purposes.
• Irrevocable trust: As you no longer control the assets of the trust, they are generally protected from creditors and not counted for Medicaid eligibility. 

A revocable living trust can be an excellent starting point for comprehensive estate planning. If your goals include asset protection or Medicaid planning, our attorney may recommend other trust structures as part of a larger plan. 

Who Should Consider a Living Trust?

While revocable living trusts are associated with many larger estates, they can benefit individuals and families with estates of all sizes. You may consider establishing this type of trust if you have any of the following goals:

• Avoiding probate for your loved ones
• Keeping your estate matters out of the public record to maintain privacy
• Transferring property in multiple states
• Ensuring fair distribution for a blended family
• Providing for minor children or beneficiaries who may not be financially responsible
• Ensuring a smooth transition of asset management in the event you become incapacitated

How Can a Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, and Palm Coast Estate Planning Lawyer Help?

Creating a revocable living trust requires a thoughtful legal strategy tailored to your family, your life, and your values. Our compassionate estate planning attorney can guide you through the process in the following steps:

• Initial consultation: To begin with, we gain an understanding of your financial situation, your family relationships, and your estate planning goals. This step includes a review of your current assets and any existing wills or powers of attorney.
• Customized trust creation: Our attorney drafts a tailored revocable living trust that complies with Florida law and reflects your intentions. We also prepare documents such as a pour-over will, durable powers of attorney, and advance healthcare directives to complete a comprehensive estate plan. 
• Trust funding assistance: We can assist with the critical step of transferring assets into your trust, working with you to retitle real estate, bank accounts, and other key assets.
• Ongoing updates and support: Life changes, and your estate plan should change with it. We can provide ongoing support to update your trust as needed after major life events, such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or significant changes in assets. 

A revocable living trust can provide clarity, protection, and peace of mind for you and your loved ones. If you are beginning or updating an estate plan in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, or Palm Coast, FL, contact Selis Law Firm at 386-210-0058. Our compassionate estate planning attorney can help you make informed decisions to protect your family and your assets.