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    8 Living Trust Forms: Legal Self-Help Guide
    8 Living Trust Forms: Legal Self-Help Guide
    8 Living Trust Forms: Legal Self-Help Guide
    Ebook151 pages1 hour

    8 Living Trust Forms: Legal Self-Help Guide

    By Sanket Mistry

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    About this ebook

    One of the fastest ways to transfer property after your death is through a living trust because trusts are not required to go through probate court. In addition to saving time and avoiding probate costs, a trust lets you control who will receive property after you die. 8 Living Trust Forms helps you create your own living trust forms to meet your needs.
    You'll discover how to:
    avoid probate,
    distribute property quickly,
    keep property distributions private,
    provide an alternative to creating a will,
    ensure your possessions will be distributed as you wish,
    reduce the potential family conflicts,
    and much more.
    For many people, a will is their first choice for passing on property to their loved ones, but it's not the only document that should be considered. Both a will and living trust contain your inheritance instructions, meaning they state who gets what property, when they will get it, and how they will get it. To create a living trust, a lawyer is not required or necessary, especially for simple living trusts. All you really need is a little bit of intelligence and the right information. A living trust can be an important part--and in some cases, the most important part--of your estate. A living trust can help ensure that your assets are managed according to your wishes, even if you become unable to manage the trusts yourself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSanket Mistry
    Release dateMay 29, 2014
    ISBN9781940788098
    8 Living Trust Forms: Legal Self-Help Guide
    Author

    Sanket Mistry

    Sanket Mistry earned his JD from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He is a member of the New York State Bar and author of several books in the Legal Self-Help Guide series. He has worked, and volunteered, at a number of nonprofits, government agencies, and for-profit corporations. He also holds a BA in philosophy from Emory University and an MIA from Columbia University.

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      I loved it! It was very instructive, and helped me clear a lot of doubts about the topic. Thank you very much indeed!

    Book preview

    8 Living Trust Forms - Sanket Mistry

    About the Author

    Sanket Mistry earned his JD from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He is a member of the New York State Bar and author of several books in the Legal Self-Help Guide series. He has worked, and volunteered, at a number of nonprofits, government agencies, and for-profit corporations. He also holds a BA in philosophy from Emory University and an MIA from Columbia University. He is an avid traveler and tennis player.

    About the Editor

    J.T. Levine earned her JD from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. She has edited several books for Peerless Legal. She is a member of the Georgia Bar. Prior to law school, she earned an MFA in Professional Writing from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a BA from the University of Miami. She is an animal lover and has a pharaoh hound named Tut.

    Table of Contents

    About the Author

    About the Editor

    I. INTRODUCTION

    II. TRUSTS

    1. Introduction to Creating Your Own Trust

    2. Basics—Functions and Uses of Trusts

    A. What’s a Trust?

    B. Who Can Create a Trust?

    C. What Does a Trust Require?

    D. What a Trust Can Do for You

    E. What a Trust Cannot Do for You

    F. How to Change an Existing Trust

    G. Types of Trusts

    a) Testamentary Trust

    b) Living Trust

    i. Individual Living Trust

    ii. Married Living Trust

    1. Simple Married Living Trust

    2. AB Living Trust

    3. AB Disclaimer Living Trust

    c) Marital Trust

    d) Totten Trust

    e) Child(ren)’s Trust

    3. Identifying the Property and People in Your Trust

    A. Property

    a) Real Estate

    b) Non-Real Estate

    c) Property That Should Not Be Put Into Your Living Trust

    B. People

    a) Beneficiaries

    b) Trustees

    III. SAMPLE FORMS

    IV. YOU CREATED YOUR LEGAL DOCUMENT, NOW WHAT?

    1. Storing Your Documents

    A. Where to Keep It

    B. How to Keep It

    C. Making Copies

    2. Making Changes to Your Existing Documents

    A. Changes in Life

    B. How to Make Changes

    C. Consequences of Not Making Changes

    D. Revoke an Existing Legal Document

    E. Reviving a Revoked Legal Document

    F. If a Legal Document Is Missing At Death

    V. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

    1. Attorney

    A. Hiring an Attorney

    B. Type of an Attorney to Hire

    C. Finding an Attorney

    D. Attorney Fees

    2. Legal Research

    A. Law Libraries

    B. Online

    Appendix

    State Specific Information

    Glossary

    I. Introduction

    This book will help you get your estate in order so that you can successfully create your own legal estate documents. It includes information about wills, trusts, and other common estate planning information. This book is not intended to be read as a novel. It is intended to be used as a reference guide. Pay attention to headings because they are your guide-posts. This book is laid out in a way to help you find information quickly.

    This book is written in plain-English with as little legal jargon as possible. However, sometimes the legal jargon cannot be avoided. Where legal jargon is used, there is a plain-English explanation that accompanies it. If you need addition explanations, refer to the Glossary.

    By the time you finish reading this book, you should be able to:

    • successfully understand how to, and create, your own legal documents,

    • know enough about your issue to determine whether it’s complicated enough to warrant hiring an attorney, and

    • understand your legal rights and responsibilities.

    The book begins with a vast array of legal information that will help you create your estate documents. The information is a broad overview. Not every piece of information will pertain to you or to your jurisdiction. More information about your jurisdiction is available online at the web addresses provided in the back of this book in the Appendix.

    There is an introduction section at the beginning of each of the major topics. Think of this as a preview of what is to come. Then there are detailed explanations of the important legal issues.

    Next, we have provided a check-list and sample legal forms. The check-list will help you make the sample form legal. There are additional explanations after the sample legal forms that tell you what you should do with the legal forms after you completed them.

    The reminder of the book is devoted to the Appendix that includes State Specific Information and a Glossary. The State Specific Information provides links to information on each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Laws in different states vary and you should review this section to find your specific state rules. The Glossary provides definitions to common legal terms.

    The tools in this book will provide you with the legal information you need to create your own estate documents or to equip you with the information you need to hire a competent attorney.

    II. Trusts

    1. Introduction to Creating Your Own Trust

    One of the fastest ways to transfer property after your death is through a trust because a trust is not required to go through probate. In addition to avoiding probate costs, a trust lets you control who will receive property after you die. This section provides information you need to create your own trust.

    The trusts in this book are for living trusts and can be used by single and married couples, small or moderate estates that are worth less than $2 million.

    To create a trust you do not always need a lawyer, especially for simple living trusts. All you really need is a little bit of intelligence and the right information.

    If you do decide to retain a lawyer after looking through this book, then this book can still provide valuable information to help keep you informed as to what your lawyer is doing regarding your property.

    Before you actually start filling out the living trust forms included in this book, it is important to understand some basic information about the functions and uses of trusts. Then you can start to identify the property you want to put into your trust and the people who you want to name as beneficiaries and trustees.

    Planning your trust before you begin can help you to think about what are some of the things a trust can and cannot do for your estate. To make a trust you will need to educate yourself on the options you have when creating your trust.

    The following chart

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