A Living Trust is a legal document that allows you to place your assets—such as property, bank accounts, and investments—into a trust during your lifetime. You can manage these assets as the trustee while you're alive, and you can also specify how they should be distributed after your death.  Your Successor Trustees are pre-authorized to step in if you are medical unable or after your death.

No, you don’t need an attorney to make a living trust, especially if your estate is simple. You can use online tools like EZ Living Trust. However, if your estate is large or complex, an attorney can help ensure everything is set up correctly. They can also give advice on taxes and legal issues to avoid mistakes.

After creating a living trust, follow these steps:

1. Fund the Trust: Transfer ownership of assets (e.g., property, bank accounts) into the trust.
2. Update Beneficiaries: Ensure accounts like life insurance and retirement plans reflect the trust as a 2nd beneficiary.
3. Notify Key People: Inform your trustee and possibly beneficiaries of the trust's existence.
4. Keep Records: Store trust documents safely and maintain records of asset transfers.
5. Review and Update: Periodically update the trust as your assets or family situation changes.

When parents pass away, assets like a house in a living trust get a "step-up" in value, meaning the house’s market value at the time of death becomes the new starting point for taxes. If the kids sell the house, they only pay capital gains tax on the increase in value after their parents' death, not on the entire gain from when it was originally purchased. It’s better not to add children to the deed during your lifetime because then they’d be responsible for paying capital gains tax on the property's original purchase value, missing out on the step-up benefit.

• Avoids Probate: Quick asset distribution without court delays.
• Saves Money: Probate fees can be up to 3% of the estate value and take 2 years.
• Privacy: Keeps estate matters confidential.
• Control: Dictate how and when your assets are distributed.
• Flexibility: Easily modify or revoke a revocable trust.
• Incapacity Management: Appoint a trustee to handle assets if you can't.
• Tax Benefits: Potential reduction of taxable estate with an irrevocable trust.

A revocable living trust doesn’t directly save on taxes, but it can help reduce estate taxes by managing how assets are passed to beneficiaries. It doesn’t protect your assets from creditors while you're alive, but after your death, the trust can provide some protection for your beneficiaries from their creditors. For full protection from creditors, other legal tools like an asset protection trust may be needed.