Do-it-yourself Living Trust by Legal Awareness Series, Inc.

I’m talking about you creating a Living Trust…

So just what is a living trust? It’s a legal structure that allows you to:

You create a pool of wealth that not only survives your death, it even allows you some options to support loved ones and causes while you are still alive. It’s like being able to distribute your Will, but while you’re still around to enjoy it!

The super wealthy have been doing this for years. In fact, Bill Gates recently transferred $24 billion to the Trust that he and his wife Melinda formed.

But it’s not just for the ultra-rich…

The rich do Trusts much more than other people because they are smart about money. They have learned how to preserve, protect, and grow their wealth. Yet this same structure can be used by anyone, even someone of relatively modest means.

Here’s an example of how this might work for you…

Say you’ve read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” and you’re committed to making your money work for you. You’ve started a savings plan, and maybe you hold some Certificates of Deposit, stocks or bonds. You own your own home, and maybe you’ve invested in a duplex or other rental property.

You create a simple Revocable Living Trust, and name yourself as the managing Trustee. And you name your spouse or responsible adult child as the Successor Trustee. They would manage the trust after your death.

Next, you transfer your property, savings account, and other investments into the Trust. Now you name your children and/or grandchildren as the major beneficiaries. You can also include the Opera, your church, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, or any other charity of your choosing as beneficiaries.

When you die, your assets are automatically transferred to your beneficiaries immediately—no probate, no courts, and no mess.

This is without a doubt, the best way to transfer your wealth to the people and causes you want it to go to. It’s happens instantaneously, and privately. And you don’t end up donating ten percent of your assets to government hacks, so they can finance roads to nowhere, study the flow rate of ketchup, and buy $2,000 toilet seats,

A Trust is not just for the elderly…

My grandfather remarried a woman 30 years younger than him. They made all of their plans to protect her after he was gone. Yet unexpectedly she developed a brain tumor and died first.

She had children from a previous marriage, and nothing was set up for them. Her eldest daughter was expecting some jewelry and other things her mother had promised her. But no provisions were made, and some very bad situations and hurt feelings were the result.

Stuff happens. Every day.

People in the prime of their life are cut down by car accidents, plane crashes, and freak occurrence. Sometimes both parents are killed, with young children left behind. These children could bounce from foster home to foster home. State Welfare agencies are infamous for the neglect, incompetence and abuse that happens in their system. (Kids here in the Florida system have been lost, abused, and even murdered!)

Even if you name a guardian in your Will, the government is forever meddling in all the decisions over the assets you leave behind for your kids. If the assets are the subject of your Will (whether it’s the one you’ve written or the one the State writes for you), they are subject to the probate court’s constant review.

The Guardian for your children is one of the most momentous decisions you can make. You certainly don’t want to subject them to all the government harassment. And of course the day the kids reach 18, they receive everything.

Now think about that…

Do you remember what you were like when you were 18? Believe me, I’m quite certain if I had received a large inheritance at 18, I would have been dead before I hit 19.

A Trust will let you protect and provide for your kids in a much better way. You can determine at what age your kids receive certain amounts. And in the meantime, their guardian has the resources to provide for their health, education, and well-being. And they can do all this without the hassles and publicity of the probate court.

You’d be thoughtless and neglectful NOT to do this kind of planning for your children. They need a Trust. And especially if they have any special needs or talents.

Now you may have been told that joint tenancy with right of survivorship is the answer. Far from it…

Even though it avoids probate on the first person’s death, everything still must go through the probate process (and costs) on the death of the second parent. And God forbid, something happens to both of you, all the issues I mentioned previously apply. Even worse, each party is exposed to the debts and liabilities of the other. So a lawsuit against your spouse could take away half of your property too!

New Important Development for U.S. Citizens…

You are probably aware of the new HIPAA law on medical privacy recently passed here in the States. Here are two examples of cases that happened since these regulations went into effect:

A husband and wife were involved in a terrible automobile accident. The husband was seriously injured. His wife wanted to make certain that the needed medical attention was given to her husband. The wife could not get any medical information from her doctor. Even though she was the wife, the new HIPAA law and regulations prevents her from receiving medical information without specific written authorization!

In another case, an elderly widow lady became incapacitated. Her two children wanted to place her in a nursing home so that she would receive adequate care. Even though they had a living will and health-care power of attorney for their mother, they were required to go to court and be appointed her guardians so that they could place their mother in the health care facility.

This was so, even though the mother had previously given both of her children the power to act as her health-care agents. However, because the health-care power of attorney did not comply with the new regulations, they had to go to court.

Language to cover the new regulations has been added to the Living Trust Kit. This is done to allow the successor trustee to receive any and all medical records if it should become necessary to do so. To my knowledge, this is the only Living Trust Kit that addresses this new problem. And it’s imperative to protect you when completing advance planning to provide for medical attention!

So Why Don’t More People Have a Trust?

Ignorance. The truth is, Trusts are the best way to avoid the problems associated with transferring assets upon death. But most people don’t even know they could use one. They think Trusts are just for the mega-millionaires and billionaires. Now you know this is not the case.

So what’s the last stumbling block?

Money. Or more accurately, ignorance about money. Normally a Will costs about $350-$1,000, depending on the complications in the estate. A Living Trust, on the other hand, usually costs between $2,000 and $5,000. In very large estates, the legal fees could be in the tens of thousands.

So many people are scared away by the cost. (Not realizing of course that they will eventually pay LOTS MORE with a standard Will.) Or they will simply put it off until they think they can better afford it.

What they don’t know is that there is a perfect, low-cost alternative…

I know a way you can set up your own Living Trust right now, and do it without paying thousands (or even tens of thousands) of dollars to do it. In fact, I just did it myself! It’s the:

Complete-It-Yourself Living Trust Kit.

With this powerful little resource you can prepare a Living Trust yourself, without even using an attorney! Really. Because it was created by one! With this, you can set up your own Living Trust in three very simple steps.

Step one is simply reading instructions on how you will fill out the legal forms. Review the sample of the form, which has been filled in. This will show you how your trust documents should look like.

Step two is completing the worksheets on which you gather your own information. (This is basically just listing the assets you want to put in the Trust.)

And finally, you just transfer your completed information to the final form. You can either print or type. Then you take it to a notary public, and sign it in front of him or her.

Now you have your own completed Living Trust.

It’s really that simple. This Living Trust Kit couldn’t be more complete or easier to follow. And everything is even color coded for each part of the process. Simply review the yellow instruction pages, examine the pink sample pages, fill in the blue worksheets, then transfer your information to the official white legal document.

The Living Trust Kit was prepared by Steven Allen, an estate attorney, who has been practicing in this field for years. He’s an expert in this area.