Setting up a trust questions about moving home into trust

[Anonymous]

I am setting up a trust and I have the option to pay my lawyer $500 to do the paperwork to move my home in to the trust or I can do it myself. I am retired and have the time. Are there pitfalls? Any advice for starting the process? I have looked through my county website for information re deeds but don't see much helpful info. I'm going to call the county and ask as well.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

If you are thinking about the $500 it costs to have your attorney do this, my first question to you is why you have a trust? Trusts are completely unnecessary for most estates. Do you have a lot of stipulations on how assets are to be distributed? Is your estate extremely complex? Do your heirs (or your executor) lack the ability to navigate probate? Do you have heirs with special needs who may not be capable of managing their own finances? If the answer to all of these is no, then the only thing you are doing by setting up a trust is enriching the attorneys who will be paid to set it up and manage it.

[Anonymous]

I do have a situation that needs to be addressed by a trust and I don't throw my money away. Your assumption that someone who opens a trust has enough money to not care about $500 shows that you must be an unsuccessful money grubbing lawyer.


It's humorous when attorneys say it's a waste of money to set up a trust knowing probate is lengthy and not always straight forward. Lawyers would still have to be paid either way.

There are valid reasons to have a trust. Thanks so much for the unhelpful lecture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are thinking about the $500 it costs to have your attorney do this, my first question to you is why you have a trust? Trusts are completely unnecessary for most estates. Do you have a lot of stipulations on how assets are to be distributed? Is your estate extremely complex? Do your heirs (or your executor) lack the ability to navigate probate? Do you have heirs with special needs who may not be capable of managing their own finances? If the answer to all of these is no, then the only thing you are doing by setting up a trust is enriching the attorneys who will be paid to set it up and manage it.

Why the F would you want anyone to go through probate?!?!? A young family we know in another state lost their breadwinner over a year ago in an accident. The spouse didn't have a job, had to deal with 2 kids in school AND go through a lengthy 14 month probate process to move their small house and car to her name. Lawyer and court fees added up too! Thankfully, she was able to access her joint bank accounts while looking for work and navigating this mess. Family contributions and GoFundMe helped out with expenses in the first few months before SS kicked in. Far, far easier and better to have joint title to the house and car or have them titled in the name of a Revocable Trust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do have a situation that needs to be addressed by a trust and I don't throw my money away. Your assumption that someone who opens a trust has enough money to not care about $500 shows that you must be an unsuccessful money grubbing lawyer.


It's humorous when attorneys say it's a waste of money to set up a trust knowing probate is lengthy and not always straight forward. Lawyers would still have to be paid either way.

There are valid reasons to have a trust. Thanks so much for the unhelpful lecture.

If you have money, you would pay $500 to get this done properly. How cheap are you?

[Anonymous]

In the past few years, my family has dealt with both a probate and a trust situation. By far, the trust situation was easier to navigate. We are very thankful to the grandparents who had the forethought to set up the trust and make things so much simpler for their family members.

The probate situation is a pain, and still ongoing. It’s already been a year and looks like it could go another year before everything is processed. I really wish the grandparent in this case had set up a trust to carry out his wishes.

[Anonymous]

I'm going through a title company to have mine done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do have a situation that needs to be addressed by a trust and I don't throw my money away. Your assumption that someone who opens a trust has enough money to not care about $500 shows that you must be an unsuccessful money grubbing lawyer.


It's humorous when attorneys say it's a waste of money to set up a trust knowing probate is lengthy and not always straight forward. Lawyers would still have to be paid either way.

There are valid reasons to have a trust. Thanks so much for the unhelpful lecture.

DP. PP is correct. Except in the case of a few states where probate is difficult (e.g., California), there are very few situations where a trust is necessary, and it is generally a waste of time & money. But since you’re such a legal expert, you can figure this out on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are thinking about the $500 it costs to have your attorney do this, my first question to you is why you have a trust? Trusts are completely unnecessary for most estates. Do you have a lot of stipulations on how assets are to be distributed? Is your estate extremely complex? Do your heirs (or your executor) lack the ability to navigate probate? Do you have heirs with special needs who may not be capable of managing their own finances? If the answer to all of these is no, then the only thing you are doing by setting up a trust is enriching the attorneys who will be paid to set it up and manage it.

Why the F would you want anyone to go through probate?!?!? A young family we know in another state lost their breadwinner over a year ago in an accident. The spouse didn't have a job, had to deal with 2 kids in school AND go through a lengthy 14 month probate process to move their small house and car to her name. Lawyer and court fees added up too! Thankfully, she was able to access her joint bank accounts while looking for work and navigating this mess. Family contributions and GoFundMe helped out with expenses in the first few months before SS kicked in. Far, far easier and better to have joint title to the house and car or have them titled in the name of a Revocable Trust.

That has nothing to do with needing a trust. If everything was titled properly, this wouldn’t be an issue. If they couldn’t even do that simple thing right, I seriously doubt a trust would have been set up correctly. One reason trusts are often worthless is because people don’t title everything properly into the trust and they end up having to go through probate anyway. Best example is OP, who is going to pay someone to set up the trust, and then try to handle the rest of the work themselves & will probably end up missing something and make it all pointless. There are a few states where a trust is worthwhile, but most probate processes are not a big deal. A trust does not mean there will be no estate disputes, either. That’s a misconception.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do have a situation that needs to be addressed by a trust and I don't throw my money away. Your assumption that someone who opens a trust has enough money to not care about $500 shows that you must be an unsuccessful money grubbing lawyer.


It's humorous when attorneys say it's a waste of money to set up a trust knowing probate is lengthy and not always straight forward. Lawyers would still have to be paid either way.

There are valid reasons to have a trust. Thanks so much for the unhelpful lecture.

If you have money, you would pay $500 to get this done properly. How cheap are you?

How jealous are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are thinking about the $500 it costs to have your attorney do this, my first question to you is why you have a trust? Trusts are completely unnecessary for most estates. Do you have a lot of stipulations on how assets are to be distributed? Is your estate extremely complex? Do your heirs (or your executor) lack the ability to navigate probate? Do you have heirs with special needs who may not be capable of managing their own finances? If the answer to all of these is no, then the only thing you are doing by setting up a trust is enriching the attorneys who will be paid to set it up and manage it.

Why the F would you want anyone to go through probate?!?!? A young family we know in another state lost their breadwinner over a year ago in an accident. The spouse didn't have a job, had to deal with 2 kids in school AND go through a lengthy 14 month probate process to move their small house and car to her name. Lawyer and court fees added up too! Thankfully, she was able to access her joint bank accounts while looking for work and navigating this mess. Family contributions and GoFundMe helped out with expenses in the first few months before SS kicked in. Far, far easier and better to have joint title to the house and car or have them titled in the name of a Revocable Trust.

That has nothing to do with needing a trust. If everything was titled properly, this wouldn’t be an issue. If they couldn’t even do that simple thing right, I seriously doubt a trust would have been set up correctly. One reason trusts are often worthless is because people don’t title everything properly into the trust and they end up having to go through probate anyway. Best example is OP, who is going to pay someone to set up the trust, and then try to handle the rest of the work themselves & will probably end up missing something and make it all pointless. There are a few states where a trust is worthwhile, but most probate processes are not a big deal. A trust does not mean there will be no estate disputes, either. That’s a misconception.

How long does probate take in Va or Md? Everyone I know says it has been horrible. One family member in Fl dealt with it for 2 years. Your insulting comments that most people can't get things moved in to a trust by themselves is self serving bs.

[Anonymous]

When my FIL died we had one house that was in a trust and everything else went to probate. The probate stuff took well over a year to work out. Very glad that at least we had that house in a trust that we could sell and support my mil with the proceeds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my FIL died we had one house that was in a trust and everything else went to probate. The probate stuff took well over a year to work out. Very glad that at least we had that house in a trust that we could sell and support my mil with the proceeds.

Why was the house not in tenets entirety in both mil and fil name? A trust was not necessary and upon fil death, your mil should have been able to sell the house without issue.

[Anonymous]

The money lawyers make off Trusts is very minor compared to what they can make off a probate process. Hence the push in these lawyer infested waters to avoid setting up a Trust. Do a trust. Most employers have a legal plan that allows one to get a free attorney to setup a trust. Pay that same lawyer a bit more if your situation is complicated. You can have a for between $0 - 2K along with a durable POA, healthcare POA, will, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are thinking about the $500 it costs to have your attorney do this, my first question to you is why you have a trust? Trusts are completely unnecessary for most estates. Do you have a lot of stipulations on how assets are to be distributed? Is your estate extremely complex? Do your heirs (or your executor) lack the ability to navigate probate? Do you have heirs with special needs who may not be capable of managing their own finances? If the answer to all of these is no, then the only thing you are doing by setting up a trust is enriching the attorneys who will be paid to set it up and manage it.

Why the F would you want anyone to go through probate?!?!? A young family we know in another state lost their breadwinner over a year ago in an accident. The spouse didn't have a job, had to deal with 2 kids in school AND go through a lengthy 14 month probate process to move their small house and car to her name. Lawyer and court fees added up too! Thankfully, she was able to access her joint bank accounts while looking for work and navigating this mess. Family contributions and GoFundMe helped out with expenses in the first few months before SS kicked in. Far, far easier and better to have joint title to the house and car or have them titled in the name of a Revocable Trust.

That has nothing to do with needing a trust. If everything was titled properly, this wouldn’t be an issue. If they couldn’t even do that simple thing right, I seriously doubt a trust would have been set up correctly. One reason trusts are often worthless is because people don’t title everything properly into the trust and they end up having to go through probate anyway. Best example is OP, who is going to pay someone to set up the trust, and then try to handle the rest of the work themselves & will probably end up missing something and make it all pointless. There are a few states where a trust is worthwhile, but most probate processes are not a big deal. A trust does not mean there will be no estate disputes, either. That’s a misconception.

How long does probate take in Va or Md? Everyone I know says it has been horrible. One family member in Fl dealt with it for 2 years. Your insulting comments that most people can't get things moved in to a trust by themselves is self serving bs.

If PP's property was titled correctly, it will never have entered probate. I always just assumed that the attorneys doing our closings had been making real property jokes when they asked if we wanted the house titled as a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, do married couples actually choose to be tenants in common or to title solely in one spouses name regularly?