Page 22 - Book10E

What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork.
—Pearl Bailey
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gain access to consumers’ financial information and to sell them other financial products, such as insurance annuities.
What’s a consumer to do? It’s true that for some people, a living trust can be a useful and practical tool. But for others, it can be a waste of money and time. What is a living trust, anyway, and how does it differ from a will? Who should you trust when it comes to estate plan- ning? And how can you tell which tools
and strategies will work best for your particular circumstances?
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the government agency that works to prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace, says that it helps to learn the terms that are used in this aspect of financial planning before you begin conversations about it. For example:
Probate is a legal process that usually involves filing a deceased person’s will with the local probate court, taking an inventory and getting appraisals of the deceased person’s property, paying all legal debts, and eventually distributing the remaining assets and property. This process can be costly and time-consuming. Many states have simplified pro- bate for estates below a certain amount, but that amount varies among states. If an estate meets the state’s requirements for “expedited” or “unsupervised” probate, the process is faster and less costly.
A trust is a legal arrangement where one person (the “grantor”) gives control of his property to a trust, which is administered by a “trustee” for the “beneficiary’s” benefit. The grantor, trustee and beneficiary may be the same person. The grantor names a successor trustee in the event of incapacitation or death, as well as successor beneficiaries.
A living trust, created while you’re alive, is an estate planning tool, often viewed as an alternative to a will, in which a person’s assets are transferred to the trust during his or her lifetime and distributed at the
How to Make Sure Living Trusts are Trustworthy