re: Revocable Living Trust

quote:

---

They act like probate(!!!) is some expensive nightmare, when the average Joe succession often amounts to a lawyer completing paperwork and presenting it to a judge for signatures. It can often be done in a few weeks.

---

I deal with LA probate more than most - it is not the expense that drives people insane, it’s the process and mental anguish that often comes with it. You’re already grieving, and the stress that comes with being the middleman of a probate as the surviving spouse or a local child is a lot.

I do not recommend trusts to the vast majority of my clients because they don’t need it from a financial standpoint, but many are so overwhelmed with probate that a properly designed and funded RLT would have been worth it.

If LA ever adopts a proper TOD law, this conversation is mostly moot, but until then, probate can be a mess.


PSA: anyone that has even an iota of assets should have a will, at a minimum, in LA. It’s the least you can do for your beneficiaries.