A revocable trust allows a property owner to manage properties in multiple states without requiring probate administration in each state when the person dies. Multistate property ownership multiplies this problem and creates unnecessary complications and expenses. Generally, if a person owns property in the person’s own name, alone, a judge must appoint someone to manage the property after the person dies. Multistate Property ManagementĬlients that own real estate in multiple states can create complications for family members if do not use estate planning tools to avoid probate administration and those estates. We use revocable trusts to address three kinds of issues. Revocable trusts became very popular over the past 30 years, largely because of exaggerations about their benefits. We believe that lawyers began using revocable trusts as estate planning tools in the 20th century. Likewise, some estate plans require wills, trusts, or both kinds of tools.

A hammer does not replace a wrench, and a saw does a terrible job of tightening screws. We have written previously that trusts and wills are tools that estate planning lawyers use to help clients accomplish estate planning goals. Dont judge this book by its cover because its estate plan contents may be anemic Trusts and Wills This article advises people about proper estate plan contents for the average family. We have heard clients praise the appearance of leather estate plan binders especially binders embossed with gold lettering, Unfortunately, most of those clients pay dearly for weak estate plan is that did not address their issues adequately, or addressed issues that the clients were not facing. “Fancy estate plan binders hide weak contents” should be a mantra for estate planning lawyers and their clients. Forget the flashy binder and focus on estate plan contents

Estate planning binder checklist