A revocable living trust, one estate planning tool, offers benefits that you need to know about. It differs from a will, with some very important distinctions. 

To start with, a living trust offers flexibility and control, allowing you to create a plan that can be used while you’re alive or used by your family once you’re deceased. For example, what if you get sick, becoming physically or mentally incapacitated? Are your medical wishes known by your family? And more importantly: is there someone to enforce your medical wishes?

This is something to think about. We all hope to live past the century mark, healthy and vibrant. But the reality is, it’s likely that at some point—somewhere on life’s continuum—you will need more extensive medical care. In addition, you know that at some point, that continuum has an end point: what will happen with your assets?

Without a plan in place saying what you want to happen given various scenarios, there’s a need for other people to make these decisions. In the case of your assets, that will be a probate judge—not your family.

And if you have a will, you may think probate won’t happen. Many people are surprised to learn that a traditional will does not protect their estate from probate. Probate is the legal process used to validate the will and determine whether it should be used to allocate your assets. Also, it makes the transfer legal—the will itself does not.

A living trust (also known as a revocable living trust or a family trust), if prepared correctly, can help avoid probate. This makes it a popular estate planning tool, and it’s just one of the options you can learn more about in my free estate planning and living trust program.

To learn how a living trust may benefit you—and other important things you need to know when it comes to making your estate planning decisions, please take advantage of my offer to download my free estate planning and living trust program. All you need to do is fill out the form on this page.

You’ll also learn what to ask before you begin working with an estate planning attorney or estate planning advisor.

What you don’t know could impact your estate plan, so get your copy of this plan now.