What Are Important Trust Mistakes to Avoid?

You may establish your trust and other estate planning documents to make it easier for your beneficiaries when you are, sadly, no longer around. So the last thing you may want is to make an error in any of these documents that subsequently leads to complications in your estate administration. With that being said, continue reading to learn about important trust mistakes to avoid and how one of the experienced Butler County trust attorneys at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC can help you curb them.

What are common misconceptions about trusts?

You may be hesitant to include a trust in your estate plan in general, as you may have bought into the common misconceptions surrounding this document. But you must rule these out and understand the facts of the matter.

For one, it is commonly misconceived that a trust is an estate planning document reserved for high-net-worth individuals. On the contrary, it is easily accessible and encouraged for individuals of all income levels. Simply, this document is a way to protect your assets and ensure they are distributed to your designated beneficiaries when the time is right. All the while, this document may allow your beneficiaries to skip the probate process they would have otherwise had to undergo with a will.

Something else that is typically misunderstood is that a trust is rather complex and expensive to establish. However, if your assets are not necessarily complex, then your trust may not be either. What’s more, there is more than one type of trust at your disposal, with some being more cost-effective than others. Overall, it may be argued that the financial benefits of establishing a trust outweigh its initial costs.

What are important trust mistakes that I should avoid?

Now that you are confident in your decision to establish a trust, you must be aware of common mistakes to avoid. Again, this is so as to not jeopardize the inheritances you wish to leave behind for your designated beneficiaries.

First of all, you must fund your trust as soon as possible. It does not matter if you have already completed a detailed list of instructions, named a trustee, named a beneficiary, and done all the other required steps. This is because your trust is not technically valid and enforceable until you transfer your assets over to it. Ultimately, your trust can only control the assets you put into it, not the assets that make up your estate in general.

Then, you must revisit your trust document and update it as necessary. It does not matter if you have already established your trust document and incorporated it into your estate plan. If it does not contain relevant information, it may be complicated or impossible for your trustee to execute it when the time comes.

This is all to say that the time to act is now. So please pick up the phone and call one of the skilled Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys from Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC. We look forward to hearing from you.