Should you have a living trust? That’s a great question and the answer is it depends, right? The answer is going to be different for everybody and there’s no bright line rule that says if X then living trust and if Y then no living trust but I’ll give you some factors to think about in trying to come to a good decision. First off, how old are you? That’s one factor you want to think about as we all age and the possibility of disability and eventually death increases certainly the advantages of a living trust grow bigger and bigger. Another factor to think about is what kind of level of wealth do you have? For somebody who has minimal wealth, you know, $10,000, $20,000 to their name it’s very unlikely that I would recommend a living trust but for people who are into the six figures and beyond then there are some real big advantages to using a living trust. In a nutshell the three big reasons why you may want a living trust are; one, the ability to provide for a seamless transition of wealth someday when you’re gone to the next generation or to loved ones. Two, the ability to provide for some superior incapacity planning in case you’re disabled and, three, the ability to provide for an inheritance that’s passed on in an asset-protective manner to loved ones.
