The main benefit of a living trust is being able to avoid probate.  This means that at your death, if all of your assets have been transferred into the Living Trust (or pass outside of probate through asset titling or a beneficiary or transfer-on-death designation), then your Trustee can immediately step into the role of managing your assets without having to go through the probate process.  This saves probate fees and time that would be spent by your Personal Representative in opening your estate and sending out all the required notices.  

Living trusts do require you to transfer all your assets into the trust during your life (and you’ll still want to have a simple Will for other reasons), so they aren’t for everyone.   However, if you want the most flexibility and to save your family time and money, they can be a great option.

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