Hopefully after last week's email, you reviewed your estate documents and maybe even found an attorney to help. If so, you may now have a revocable trust, a document that transfers your assets to your heirs. But setting it up isn’t actually the step that makes the trust effective, which brings us to Estate Planning Mistake #2: Not transferring assets into the revocable trust.
A revocable living trust is a tool that allows you to avoid probate, essentially passing your assets directly to your heirs without the involvement of a judge or the state. But the trust only works for assets you put into it when you’re still alive. If there are no assets in the trust, it’s useless. So, keep a list of what you’ve transferred into the trust, and make sure that any new assets or accounts are owned or opened in the name of the trust. An estate attorney can be very helpful as you go through this process, so if you don’t already have one, let’s partner together to help you find someone great.
As always, if you have any questions, let’s be sure to connect. More next week!