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I am a resident of Gloucester County, New Jersey. If I have recently formed a Revocable Living Trust and moved all my New Jersey assets into the trust, do I still need a will?

If the goal in forming your Revocable Living Trust was to avoid probate, then you must either transfer all your assets that would otherwise be Probate Assets into the trust during your lifetime or have them pour into the Revocable Trust at your death. That is often done by using a Payable on Death Account or naming the Trust as Beneficiary.

Periodically reviewing your Pennsylvania estate plan is critical. Significant life events including marriages, children and moving can dramatically affect how your assets are distributed. Other issues such as changes in state and federal laws can also affect your intended estate plan. In addition to your plan failing, old and unreviseddocuments can delay probate, and in some cases end up in litigation. These are some of the many reasons reasons to periodically review your estate plan to ensure it still reflects your intentions.

Pennsylvania allows you to form a Revocable Living Trust. These trusts can own almost any asset including bank accounts, autos, stocks, gold, and Bucks County real estate. While Revocable Trusts can serve many purposes, the primary goal is to avoid probating the will with the Bucks County Register of Wills.

For some estates, spending a little money now to avoid probate at death can create a substantial savings for the family. Typical techniques used to avoid probate include Revocable Living Trusts, Jointly Owned Accounts and Payable-on-Death designations on bank accounts and stock accounts.

For some New Jersey estates, spending a little money now to avoid probate with the Camden County Surrogate at death can create a substantial savings for the family. Typical techniques used to avoid probate in New Jersey include Revocable Living Trusts, Jointly Owned Accounts and Payable-on-Death designations on bank accounts and stock accounts.

New Jersey allows you to form a Revocable Living Trust. These trusts can own almost any asset including bank accounts, autos, stocks, gold, and your Atlantic County real estate. While Revocable Trusts can serve many purposes, the primary goal is to avoid probating the will with the Atlantic County Surrogate.

For centuries, trusts have been formed to provide safety and protection for valued assets. Recent changes in the law have made this old institution even more popular by reducing trust’s ongoing maintenance costs. You might think that only the very wealthy need the protection of a trust, but the truth is that a trust is a huge benefit to anyone having an asset in need of protection from their children’s creditors, divorce or from self-destructive beneficiaries.

Parents are often tempted to place property in Joint Tenancy with children. Because the child becomes a co-owner of the asset, the child is able to have easy access to the account to help the parent pay bills and manage the asset. Further, at the parent’s death the asset automatically passes outright to the child. While this type of ownership might first appear convenient, it is important to realize the potential pitfalls that come with joint ownership. Sometimes convenience comes at a high price.

A revocable living trust is a trust created during lifetime over which the grantor reserves the right to terminate, revoke, modify, or amend. These trusts are generally used to avoid probate, provide assistance to a parent who needs help managing assets, address family situations, provide privacy and provide for orderly administration of assets after your death. During your lifetime, any assets in the revocable trust are used for your care. Because the trust is revocable the assets in the trust are still available to your creditors and are part of your taxable estate, but they are not part of you probate estate.

Trusts are becoming an ever more common part of our lives. You are not atypical any longer if you can talk about your Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts holding large life insurance policy on your life, or how you set up an Education Trusts to hold money earmarked for the education of generations of your family. But typically, the most likely trust that you would have is the Revocable Living Trust.

No matter what trust you form, there are three components. A Grantor who formed the trust, a Trustee who holds the asset, and the Beneficiary for whom the asset is held. In a Revocable Living Trust, the Grantor, Trustee and Beneficiary are all the same person. You form the trust, you transfer your assets to the trust and you hold them for your own benefit. For discussion about why you would form a Revocable Living Trust, please read my article Is a Revocable Living Trust Right for Me?.