HERE ARE FOUR THINGS TO PREPARE FOR A VISIT TO AN ATTORNEY:

1. Make a list of all your assets. Be sure your list includes everything you own.
Examples: Bank accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts such as IRAs, 401Ks, all property owned in part or in full, boats, automobiles, life insurance policies, businesses, patents, debts owed to you.

2. Choose a successor trustee to manage your property if you become unable to do so due to illness or mental incapacity. Choose someone you trust 100%.

3. Choose the beneficiaries who will inherit your property after you die.

4. Choose a guardian for your minor child(ren) and/or for your pet(s)
Ø You will be the Settlor, the Trustee, and the Beneficiary of your Trust.
Ø You are the Beneficiary for as long as you live. After you die, the Beneficiary(s) is/are
whomever you name in the Trust document.
Ø Typically, the Revocable Trust becomes Irrevocable upon your death and the Successor Trustee Distributes the Trust property according to the terms that you detailed in the Trust document.
Ø A Trust gives you the ability to make provisions for beneficiaries whom you do not wish to give a large lump sum to. You can make provisions that direct them to receive smaller amounts over time. The Trustee(s) or Successor Trustee(s) would administer the Trust property according to the directions that you have given for this in the Trust document.

Once the Trust is fully executed, appropriate assets are re-titled to your Trust. You continue to own them as Trustee of your Trust. If you become incapable of managing your Trust assets, your successor Trustee would be able to take over for you under the terms described in the Trust document.

A Trust document along with a Durable Power of Attorney and Medical Power of Attorney provide the necessary elements to avoid winding up in Guardianship proceedings if you become physically and/or mentally incapable of managing your own assets and caring for yourself.

After passing away, assets titled to a revocable trust can be administered without the need for protracted and expensive probate proceedings.

Diana Mangsen focuses her practice as an elder law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at
https://www.mangsenlaw.com/
or call (727) 888-6282.