You don’t think you need a trust? That’s your prerogative. If you have a significant amount of assets, your family will have the privilege of fighting over your prized possessions when you die. If that’s not disturbing enough, there’s a good chance that people you liked the least will get the most of what you left. All because you didn’t think a trust was really that necessary.

A trust serves as a legal written document that specifies how your property and assets are to be distributed and administered–and to whom. You can create one of two types: a living trust and a testamentary trust.

Of course, the living trust is created while you are alive. It can be revocable or irrevocable, but making it revocable allows you more freedom to modify or make changes, add or take away assets or terminate the trust. You don’t have this flexibility with an irrevocable trust.

A living trust enables your assets to avoid probate. It can also expedite the distribution of assets to your beneficiaries because again, it avoids going through the tedious probate process. A living trust preserves the privacy of your estate plan because such a trust does not need to be filed with the court, like a will does. It’s also much cheaper to create a living trust than it is to administer a will through the court probate process. In addition, there is no need to establish a conservatorship with a living trust should you become incapacitated.

A testamentary trust is a legal written document that outlines provisions to be carried out after your death. It is either established through your living trust or will.

For more information about trusts or to set up an a trust in your will, contact a qualified Colorado estate planning attorney today.