Revocable Trusts
A revocable living trust can help you manage property during your lifetime, prepare for possible incapacity and establish how trust assets should be managed and distributed after your death.
But having a trust document does not necessarily mean you have a complete trust plan.
The trust needs to fit your family, your property and what you actually want your estate plan to accomplish. Just as importantly, the plan needs to be implemented so the assets you intend the trust to control are properly coordinated with it.
LifeGen Law Group helps families in Springfield and communities throughout Southwest Missouri understand whether a revocable living trust makes sense for their situation. If it does, we help with more than preparing the documents. We walk clients through what needs to happen next so the plan can work the way it was intended.
A living trust is a trust created during your lifetime.
A living trust can be revocable or irrevocable. However, when someone talks about setting up a “living trust” for estate planning, they are often referring to a revocable living trust.
With a revocable living trust, the person creating the trust generally keeps control over it and can make changes during their lifetime.
The person creating the trust may also serve as the initial trustee and continue managing the property held in the trust. A successor trustee can be named to step in according to the trust terms if the original trustee can no longer manage the trust property or after the trust maker dies.
People consider trusts for different reasons. Some are concerned about probate. Others are thinking about incapacity, real estate or how an inheritance should be managed for their children.
Understanding the goal comes before choosing the tool.
Property that has been properly transferred to a revocable trust generally can be administered through the trust after the trust maker dies rather than passing through probate simply to transfer ownership.
Creating the trust document alone does not move property into it.
If reducing probate involvement is important to you, learn more about Probate Planning and Administration.
A revocable trust can name someone to manage trust property if the person who created it becomes unable to manage those assets personally.
A trust does not replace every other incapacity-planning document. Powers of attorney and advance healthcare directives may still have important roles in the overall plan.
A trust can provide instructions about how and when beneficiaries receive property rather than requiring every inheritance to be distributed outright.
That may matter when planning for minor children or when you want greater control over the timing or conditions of an inheritance.
Someone with a home in Ozark may have very different planning needs from a family with property in more than one state or a business owner with additional assets to coordinate.
A revocable trust may be worth discussing if you own real estate in multiple states, have a business interest, are concerned about future incapacity or want more structure around how certain property will be managed and distributed.
A trust can be useful for the right situation, but it is not a solution for every estate-planning concern.
Understanding those limits can help you avoid creating a trust for the wrong reason.
Because you generally retain control over a revocable trust during your lifetime, it does not ordinarily protect trust property from your own creditors.
If protecting assets is one of your primary concerns, other strategies may need to be evaluated. Learn more about Irrevocable Trust planning.
Transferring property to a revocable trust does not, by itself, remove property you continue to control from your taxable estate.
Families with potential estate-tax concerns should evaluate those issues separately. LifeGen provides dedicated Estate Tax Planning when tax considerations need to be addressed as part of the larger plan.
Signing the trust is not the end of the process.
Property ownership, beneficiary designations and other parts of the estate plan need to be reviewed so the trust and the rest of the plan work together.
That is one of the most important differences between simply having trust documents and having a trust plan that has actually been put into place.
You might.
A will and a revocable living trust do different jobs, and many estate plans use both.
A will primarily provides instructions for property passing through the probate estate after death. It can also nominate guardians for minor children and name the person who should administer the probate estate.
A revocable living trust can operate during your lifetime. It can provide instructions for managing trust property during incapacity and after death, and property held by the trust generally can be administered outside the probate process.
Trust-based estate plans commonly still include a will.
For example, a pour-over will may direct certain property remaining outside the trust at death into the trust. That property may still need to go through probate before reaching the trust, but the documents can work together as parts of the same estate plan.
So the question is usually not:
“Is a trust better than a will?”
A more useful question is:
“What combination of planning tools makes sense for my family and property?”
A will-centered plan may be enough for one family in Republic, while another family may benefit from adding a revocable trust because of its property, beneficiaries or planning goals.
If you are trying to decide whether a trust belongs in your plan, read Do You Really Need a Trust in Missouri?
One of the most important parts of revocable trust planning happens after the trust is created.
The assets need to be reviewed to determine how each one should work with the estate plan. This process is commonly referred to as trust funding.
Funding generally involves transferring ownership of appropriate property to the trust or otherwise coordinating property with the trust-based plan.
Depending on the estate, that review may involve:
✓Real estate |
✓Bank and investment accounts |
✓Business interests |
✓Personal property |
✓Assets with beneficiary designations |
Not every asset should automatically be retitled into a trust.
Retirement accounts, beneficiary-designated assets and other property may require different treatment. That is why funding should be coordinated with the complete estate plan rather than handled as a generic checklist.
For a deeper explanation, read Why a Trust Must Be Properly Funded to Actually Work.
This is an important part of how LifeGen approaches estate planning.
We do not want clients to leave the office with a trust and a set of instructions they are expected to figure out on their own.
We help clients understand what needs to happen with their assets after the planning documents are prepared and walk them through the implementation process. The goal is for the trust, property ownership and related estate-planning documents to work together.
That support matters whether you are planning from Springfield, Branson or another community within LifeGen’s Southwest Missouri service area. The property may be different from one family to another, but the plan still needs to be carried through after the documents are signed.
When assistance is needed with the administration of an existing trust, LifeGen also provides Trust Creation & Administration services.
Not necessarily. A living trust is created during someone’s lifetime and can be revocable or irrevocable. In everyday estate-planning conversations, however, “living trust” often refers to a revocable living trust.
Yes. Property held by a properly established and funded revocable trust generally can be administered through the trust after death rather than transferred through probate.
Property outside the trust may still require probate depending on how it is owned and whether another non-probate transfer method applies.
Generally, yes. The ability to amend or revoke the trust during the trust maker’s lifetime is a defining feature of a revocable trust, subject to the trust terms and applicable law.
Generally not from your own creditors while the trust remains revocable. Other planning strategies may need to be considered when creditor protection is an important goal.
No. Different assets may need to be handled differently. Some may be transferred to the trust, while others may remain outside it and be coordinated with the estate plan in other ways.
The right choice depends on the responsibilities involved and the people or institutions available to serve.
A successor trustee may eventually be responsible for managing trust property, following the trust terms and handling significant financial responsibilities. Reliability, ability and willingness to serve all matter when making that decision.
You do not need to decide whether you need a revocable trust, a will, an irrevocable trust or another planning strategy before speaking with an attorney.
Start with what concerns you.
Maybe you want to make things easier for your family after your death. Maybe you are thinking about who could manage your property if you could not. You may want more structure around an inheritance, or you may simply be wondering whether the estate plan you already have still fits your life.
LifeGen Law Group helps families throughout Springfield and Southwest Missouri work through those questions before choosing the documents.
We can help you understand your options, build a plan around your family and property, and then walk you through the steps needed to put that plan into place.
The team at LifeGen Law Group is honored to facilitate this process and is committed to providing personal service to each client, using only those legal tools and techniques best suited to each client’s needs, goals, and personal circumstances.
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