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What is a Living Trust?

If you are not familiar with legal terms and if you haven’t seriously thought about your will and other, similar documents, you may not know what a living trust is.  A living trust is a binding legal document that you create while still alive for one of two reasons: to avoid probate, or to save money when it comes to taxes.  Creating a living trust also guarantees that your properties will not go to probate proceedings, saving your heirs a great amount of time and trouble.  You’ll also help protect your financial privacy and set out guidelines for the distribution and use of any assets if you become unable to handle matters yourself. A living trust may be revoked by the creator, also called the Grantor, at any time.

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Common Estate Planning Mistakes

When working on estate planning, it can be very easy to make mistakes.  Common errors crop up all the time, and these mistakes can cause confusion and difficulty in the future.  A well prepared estate plan will protect your assets and save your loved ones a lot of time and work, while an estate plan with errors can cause quite a headache for both you and your beneficiaries.  Below, are the most common estate planning mistakes.

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What Do I Need to Create a Will?

One question few people ever ask themselves is this: “How do I create a will?”  It’s a very good question, and it’s one that people really should ask themselves.  Even if you’re still fairly young and healthy, you never know what may happen.  If you die intestate, your family can end up dealing with the courts and other legal systems for years.  To ensure that your last wishes are carried out, it is important that everyone create a will.  But what do you need to create this important legal document?

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Basic Steps to Creating a Will

Preparing a will may be something many people find a little morbid, but it’s a very important thing to do.  Even though it does mean thinking about one’s own death, creating a will not only provides guidelines for the distribution of your property, it can also help protect your heirs.  It will often save them money and time and it will also remove any question or doubts as to your final wishes and decisions.

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Setting up a Living Trust

Setting up a living trust is one way of protecting your property and assets from going through the probate system upon your death.  This can save your heirs a lot of time and money.  Creating a living trust is actually fairly easy, although there are a few things that you need to keep in mind.  The first is that the trust documents must follow the laws of the state in which they are written.  Living trust laws do vary from state to state, so you will need to speak to a living trust attorney to make certain your document follows state law.  Once written, you have to execute the living trust in order to make it legally binding.  Below are the steps to setting up and executing a living trust.

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Advantages of a Living Trust

The purpose of creating a living trust is often not only because they want to set up a trust for their beneficiaries, but because they want to benefit from the advantages a living trust offers.  However, there are some disadvantages to creating a living trust as well, and it’s important to understand the various advantages and disadvantages to a living trust before creating one.

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Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts

When creating a trust, most people create a revocable trust.  A revocable trust, which is has several key differences from an irrevocable trust.  Both allow for transfer of property to heirs without the need of a probate court, which saves time, money, and protects the privacy of all parties involved.  However, in some situations, a revocable or an irrevocable trust may be more useful to all parties involved.

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Power of Attorney Basics

A power of attorney is a document that gives one person the legal authorization to make decisions on someone else’s behalf.  This power extends to many different business and legal matters.  By executing a power of attorney, the grantor (sometimes called a donor or principal) is authorizing his or her agent to assume these legal powers. Institutions such as banks, hospitals, and the IRS require that power of attorney be done in writing.

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Myths Concerning Revocable Trusts

Because most people do not know all the ins and outs of revocable trusts, there are a number of different myths surrounding them.  Some of these myths are simply misinformation, while others are wildly untrue.  If you’re thinking of creating a revocable trust, it is important to speak with an attorney who specializes in revocable trusts first, so that you understand exactly what the trust will do.

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How to Change Your Will

Once you’ve created your last will and testament, you may believe you are finished with this depressing chore.  However, over the years, you may find that you need to update or completely redo your will.  There are a variety of things that can make this necessary, including marriage or divorce, having children, changing your beneficiaries, and/or selling or buying  property.  Here are some basic steps to keep in mind when changing your will.

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