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There are times when a Living Trust is a smart estate planning tool that can simplify or avoid probate, and save your family thousands of dollars. A Living Trust is not always a necessary part of an estate plan. Below are some of the reasons a Living Trust might be a good tool for your estate planning.

There are at least six really good reasons for you to have a living trust in your estate planning package.

In this series of blogs, I have outlined various different types of probates and probate alternatives to help you settle an estate and understand the potential costs. A dependent administration is significantly more expensive than any other type of probate. Wise estate planning could avoid this high cost.

The price you pay for this advice before signing a contract can easily save you many thousands of dollars and lots of headaches and trouble in the future. A review of a standard residential purchase contract generally would not be more than a few hundred dollars. More complicated contracts, of course, would cost more to review or draft, but the cost would still be far less than any negotiation or litigation later to address problems that arise.

The time to seriously review all of a loved one's financial and estate planning affairs is in the early stages of Dementia or Alzheimer's. Progression of the degree of incapacity varies from person to person. A visit to a physician for a diagnosis and treatment plan should be your first priority. A visit to an attorney should be next.

Entering into a legal contract to lease property can be overwhelming, and you may be uncertain about what you are committing yourself to. Whether you are looking to sign a residential or commercial lease, having an attorney assist you can be helpful and will ease your concerns.

A corporation is a separate legal entity from its owners. A corporation can be owned by one person or many people. The corporation is formed under the laws of the state in which it is operating, with Articles of Incorporation or Certificate of Formation.

Probate can be costly and complicated. Unfortunately, not probating a Will could cause your family more stress in the long run. If your loved one has passed away and left a Will behind, you may find yourself in a situation where this is the case.

An independent administration is the form of probate available when a will contains the proper legal provisions authorizing the independent administration of the estate. This means you can avoid extensive court supervision of the handling of the estate once the will has been admitted to probate.

Probate or administration is the legal procedure for settling and transferring a persons estate, including assets and debts. If a person owns property in a different state from that in which he or she lied at death, an ancillary probate or administration in the other state might be necessary. If there was a will, generally, a probate will be proper, and if there was no will, an administration, which is more costly and involved, may be necessary. For ease of reference, I will use the term probate to cover either procedure.