Planning for the disposition of your assets is a critical part of estate planning. This will include deciding what should be done with everything from your personal property to your digital assets, to everything in between. If you are a homeowner, it should also include planning for your home. This is especially true considering the fact that a person’s home is oftentimes their biggest asset. While there are a number of ways you could plan for the disposition of your asset upon your own passing, you might want to consider using a revocable trust for these purposes.
The Benefits of Putting Your Home in a Revocable Trust
A revocable trust is a type of trust that you can alter, amend, or dissolve at any time. Many use revocable trusts to hold assets because it allows them to maintain control over the assets while at the same time enjoying other benefits offered by the trust structure. Many establish trusts as a means of avoiding probate which is a notoriously involved and often a both time consuming and expensive process.
Putting your home in a revocable trust will offer your heirs a number of benefits after you pass away. For starters, it means that there can be a structure and funds available for the management of household expenses while the rest of your assets run through probate. Real estate often passes outside of probate, but people fail to make the connection that this means heirs to the property will need to immediately assume responsibility for paying things like mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and other home related expenses. This is a lot for your heirs to cover, especially considering the remainder of their inheritances may be locked in probate for the foreseeable future. By placing your home in a revocable trust, you can help ensure that your home is safe and your heirs have the financial means to pay the bills while probate matters are in process.
Putting your home in a revocable trust can also help simplify the sale process should your beneficiaries opt for selling the property upon your passing away. Instead of multiple beneficiaries scrambling to try and agree on key issues incident to the sale of the home, such as the listing price, conditions of sale, realtor selection, and more, the trustee of the revocable trust will be tasked with single handedly making these decisions, streamlining the process. The trustee will manage the sale pursuant to the best interests of the trust beneficiaries.
The revocable trust structure has other added benefits for you regarding your home and its distribution after your death. In the governing trust document, you can provide special instructions regarding the management and distribution of your home. Should you have strong preferences regarding what happens to your home, you can ensure your wishes are honored by putting specific terms in the trust document.
Estate Planning Attorney
At Verras Law, we provide dedicated estate planning legal counsel that you and your loved ones can count on. We take our duties to protect you and those you care about most seriously. Contact Verras Law today.