Orange County Revocable Living Trusts

Learn About Revocable Living Trusts from an Orange County Estate Planning Lawyer

Revocable living trusts are widely recognized as being one of the most effective estate planning tools for providing for one's needs in the event of incapacity. Should you fall seriously ill or suffer a severe injury, you might be unable to speak on your behalf or even to make important decisions about your estate. The revocable living trust serves to voice your wishes in such an event. It also provides an important tax shelter and legal protection for your estate while you are still alive as well as allowing you more flexibility should you decide to make changes to the trust.

A revocable living trust makes it possible for your estate to avoid the costly and drawn out process of probate and to keep your family matters private. Upon death your assets can be available for immediate use by your family. An Orange County trust lawyer can assist with every stage of the process, advising you of your options and helping you to get the most out of this legal instrument. You can set up a trust with yourself as the trustee and a reliable friend or relative as the secondary trustee. You can also name a bank to be your secondary trustee. You spend the funds as you choose as long as you are able.

Should you become incapacitated, your secondary trustee can step in to take care of your financial affairs. Following your trust instructions, the trustee can access your funds to care for you and your family and pay your bills. If you recover, you take over again. When you pass away, the secondary trustee follows your instructions as regards passing the funds over to your family in the amounts and according to the schedule which you determined in advance. As the trust fund is not legally yours at your death, it bypasses probate. This saves your estate the costs of probate and makes the funds immediately available to your family. Not being part of probate, the trust document avoids being placed in court file open for public inspection.

Contact an Orange County Trust Lawyer at Our Firm

Attorney P. Arnsen Blakely has been helping clients with estate planning solutions such as revocable living trusts for more than 40 years. He is ready to meet with you for a free initial consultation to discuss your concerns and your objectives and to help you take the first steps in your case.