Revocable Living Trust

No, not a dick move. Plenty of parents do this kind of thing.

Does it become irrevocable after they die? Who’s the trustee?

You would not be entitled to inherit anything anyway.

If they have any sizable assets it’s a prudent thing to do.

Are they in Louisiana? There is a very high chance they’ll frick up the trust by not actually funding it properly and still having to go through the probate process nonetheless.

A properly funded and functioning trust is a fricking unicorn in this state.

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Are they in Louisiana? There is a very high chance they’ll frick up the trust by not actually funding it properly

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Can you expound on this? Are there ongoing costs associated with a revocable living trust?

I asked a good attorney buddy of mine about setting up a will and he offered to set up a revocable living trust for me and cover the cost of that.

I don’t know that I need anything more than a standard will, but he offered so I am taking him up on it. What kind of funding pitfalls do I need to avoid?

A revocable living trust that is designed to avoid probate doesn’t actually do you any good if you don’t put all of your assets into the trust. House, accounts, etc.

There can be as little as zero ongoing costs.

The problem is that people pay to set them up, don’t properly fund them, and then their kids have to for pay for probate anyway.

Why do you think you’re entitled to the fruits of their labor?

In the event something happens and yall divorce, you’d 100% chase after that money. Parents smartly kept it away from you.

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A probate is not that expensive. If you don’t run into inheritance tax, it’s likely not worth it to setup a trust. I see tons of people pay a lot of money to setup trusts that aren’t needed for their situation.

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Define not that expensive? For most of my clients they’re often a few thousand dollars up to $18k, but that’s the most expensive one I’ve ever seen and I’m pretty positive she was fricked over in that deal.

Agreed on people wasting money on trusts though. The trust itself is not necessarily a waste, but it’s rarely used properly and quickly becomes a waste of money as a result.

As to the question about stepped up basis, it works the same way in a revocable living trust. No issues there.

There are a few issues with Probate:

(1) your heirs won't get control of the assets for months. If they are short on cash and need to sell the home quickly - that can be an issue in some families. You will have to wait for the creditor notice period to lapse before the Judge will release any available funds to the heirs.

(2) Depending on your jurisdiction, probate may not cost a lot more than a Trust BUT you could have several court hearings to attend, especially if there is real estate and several assets. Some personal representatives may not want that hassle.

(3) In my experience, Trusts are less common to have disputes amongst siblings later on - your mileage may vary but that I generally see more disputes with Wills, for several reasons.

Also, back to the OP, that is common. Depending on age and other factors, there is always a chance you would remarry and leave assets to your new step kids. That's a topic I often bring up during consultations.

edited to add: I also agree with the posters above that mentioned Trusts are OFTEN not funded or not fully funded which confuses me.

We have a "Small Estate" option in my State but even then it takes 45 days. It has limitations, mainly no real estate, and under $30k in assets.

A typical probate, I shoot for 9 months but that doesn't always happen depending on size obviously.