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A living trust is an arrangement by which you as the grantor place Property in Trust and name yourself or some other person as Trustee or Co-Trustee, but reserve the right to revoke the trust so that the property can be returned to you. Generally, the trust agreement provides that upon your death the property will go to the named beneficiaries.

Why set up a living trust? The Advantages of the living trust include the following:

1. Provides for Property Management or disbursement;

2. Avoid all legal fees and Expenses Associatedwith probate;

3. Automatically avoids All Probate of the property;

4. Assures uninterrupted income and Access To Principal for family beneficiaries;

5. Eliminates time delays in settling the estate - the successor trustee Immediately Distribute the funds as indicated in the can revocable living trust agreement;

6. Maintains privacy - nothing is printed in the newspaper as is the case When a Person Dieseither in testate (no will) or with only a last will;

7. Avoid the Emotional Trauma, aggravation and frustration of a complicated probate court procedure;

8. Protects up to $1,500,000 from federal estate taxes for a single person and up to $3,000,000 for a Married Couple. This rule works for US citizens only!

And, what About The Children? How mature and ready will they be to inherit my estate? It's true that age 18 is the legal minimum age for inheriting an estate, but is your 18-year old wise enough to manage substantial wealth? Maybe he should receive assets in stages (say, one-third at age 25, another third at age 30, and the remainder at age 35)? Shall he receive a big allowance, or should he be encouraged to get a job?

A great advantage of the Living Trust is that you can decide and control how to distribute your estate to your children.