A properly drafted and funded revocable living trust can reduce probate delays and expenses, maintain privacy about your estate, allow for seamless management if you become incapacitated, and give clear instructions for distributing assets to heirs, making it a practical choice for many households and business owners.
Trust ownership of assets helps minimize the need for probate, enabling successor trustees to administer and distribute trust assets more quickly than the often lengthy probate timeline, which benefits families who wish to provide for dependents without extended court involvement.
Hatcher Legal offers thoughtful and practical trust planning informed by experience with business law, estate tax considerations, and probate matters, providing clients with straightforward explanations, realistic timelines, and documents tailored to family and business needs.
After signing, we assist with deed transfers, beneficiary updates, and account retitling, and schedule periodic reviews to confirm the trust continues to reflect client goals and account for changes like new property acquisitions or shifts in family circumstances.
A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement created during your lifetime that holds and manages your assets according to written terms while you remain in control and can amend or revoke it. Unlike a will, a properly funded trust can allow assets to pass to beneficiaries without going through the public probate process, offering privacy and potentially faster distribution. It complements a will rather than always replacing it, because a pour-over will is often used to capture assets unintentionally left out of the trust.
A will is a foundational document that directs distribution of assets that remain in your name at death, while a trust can control assets that have been transferred into it during life. Many people use both: a trust to manage and distribute trust-owned assets and a will to handle any remaining property, guardianship of minors, or to pour remaining assets into the trust, so the documents work together to ensure comprehensive coverage of your estate plan.
Funding a trust requires retitling real estate deeds, changing ownership of bank and brokerage accounts, and ensuring beneficiary designations are coordinated with the trust where appropriate. If funding is incomplete, assets left in your individual name may still be subject to probate and the delays and costs that accompany it. Proper follow-up after drafting, and occasional audits to confirm account titles remain aligned, are essential to make the trust effective.
A successor trustee should be someone you trust who is capable of handling financial matters and administrative tasks or a professional fiduciary when appropriate; duties include managing trust assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing property according to trust terms. Clear written guidance, an asset inventory, and a backup trustee help successors perform their roles efficiently and reduce family conflict during a challenging time.
Yes, a revocable living trust can be amended or revoked by the grantor during lifetime provided the grantor has the capacity to do so, offering flexibility for changing family or financial circumstances. Periodic review with legal counsel is recommended to update trustees, beneficiaries, and funding arrangements in response to events like marriage, divorce, births, deaths, or business transactions so the trust continues to reflect current intentions.
A typical revocable living trust provides management and transfer advantages but does not itself reduce federal estate taxes because assets in the trust remain part of the grantor’s taxable estate while the grantor is alive. However, trust planning can be coordinated with other tax strategies and trust types to address estate tax exposure when appropriate, depending on estate size and evolving tax law considerations.
A trust helps with incapacity planning by allowing a named successor trustee to step in and manage trust assets according to the grantor’s instructions, avoiding court-supervised guardianship. When combined with durable powers of attorney and advance healthcare directives, a trust forms part of a comprehensive incapacity plan that ensures continuity of financial and medical decision-making without additional court procedures.
Costs and timelines vary with complexity; a straightforward revocable living trust for typical households may be completed within a few weeks to a couple of months, while more complex plans involving business succession, multiple deeds, or tax planning may take longer and involve additional coordination. We provide transparent fee estimates during the planning phase and work to streamline the process with clear milestones and follow-up for funding.
Retirement accounts and life insurance often pass by beneficiary designation and are not automatically owned by a trust unless specifically named as such or designed to be payable to the trust; coordination is critical because beneficiary designations can override trust instructions. Careful review and updates to account beneficiaries ensure these assets integrate with the overall trust and estate plan to accomplish your distribution and tax objectives.
To begin trust planning, gather documentation on real estate, account statements, deeds, business ownership documents, and current beneficiary designations, and schedule an initial consultation to discuss goals, family circumstances, and planning priorities. From there, a tailored plan will be proposed, trust documents drafted, and funding steps coordinated to bring the plan into effect with appropriate follow-up and periodic reviews.
