Setting up a trust questions about moving home into trust

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

[Anonymous]

So how does one move a home in to a trust in Virginia for example? I would assume it varies by county.

Is it hard to do? I have read elsewhere it is not difficult but the lawyer who is anti-trust makes it sound like it's beyond mere mortals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Exactly. This simple thing wasn’t done properly, but a trust, which is much more complicated, would have been?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

An estate has an executor, which is someone you trust, who handles the process. A trust doesn’t solve this problem, as you still need a Trustee to do basically the same thing. An estate actually has more protections, since everything is public and the probate court reviews all assets and transactions. Because trusts are private, they are subject to abuse. You need to have absolute trust in your Trustee.

[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.

Not sure why it’s “self serving?” I don’t care what you do. However, I have handled the probate of four different estates and have consulted friends who are excellent estate & probate attorneys and they have all consistently advised me that living trusts are unnecessary, often ineffective and cause needless complications. The only exception is if you live in a state like California that has an absolute mess of a court system.

People seem to have this idea that trusts avoid all complications in estates, which is not true — estates going through probate actually have more protection from litigious heirs and creditors than do trusts. I was executor of a very complicated estate that had some unhappy heirs and the deadlines and filing requirements of the probate court were actually helpful in getting the estate settled. Also, because trusts are private, there is room for abuse by unscrupulous trustees.

Trusts have their place, but if advice is “self serving,” it’s usually that of a lawyer trying to convince you to pay up front for a trust you don’t really need.

[Anonymous]

We are in DC, where the estate tax exemption is currently $4M. Because we have assets that exceed $8M (as a married couple), we have set up a trust to avoid estate taxes for our children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in DC, where the estate tax exemption is currently $4M. Because we have assets that exceed $8M (as a married couple), we have set up a trust to avoid estate taxes for our children.

You are likely talking about an irrevocable trust whose assets you cannot touch once the trusts are setup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

An estate has an executor, which is someone you trust, who handles the process. A trust doesn’t solve this problem, as you still need a Trustee to do basically the same thing. An estate actually has more protections, since everything is public and the probate court reviews all assets and transactions. Because trusts are private, they are subject to abuse. You need to have absolute trust in your Trustee.

\
Which can make for a nightmare if you don't have issues with trusting you executor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

An estate has an executor, which is someone you trust, who handles the process. A trust doesn’t solve this problem, as you still need a Trustee to do basically the same thing. An estate actually has more protections, since everything is public and the probate court reviews all assets and transactions. Because trusts are private, they are subject to abuse. You need to have absolute trust in your Trustee.

\
Which can make for a nightmare if you don't have issues with trusting you executor.

+ 1. And, the courts and the lawyer will charge you fees to the extent of 5-10% of assets under probate for their "service"!

[Anonymous]

We retitled ourselves. MD.

Estate planning is a good idea if you have own a home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

An estate has an executor, which is someone you trust, who handles the process. A trust doesn’t solve this problem, as you still need a Trustee to do basically the same thing. An estate actually has more protections, since everything is public and the probate court reviews all assets and transactions. Because trusts are private, they are subject to abuse. You need to have absolute trust in your Trustee.

\
Which can make for a nightmare if you don't have issues with trusting you executor.

+ 1. And, the courts and the lawyer will charge you fees to the extent of 5-10% of assets under probate for their "service"!

and in this area with home values what they are, this would be significantly more than the cost of a trust. How disingenuous of the lawyer posting here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

An estate has an executor, which is someone you trust, who handles the process. A trust doesn’t solve this problem, as you still need a Trustee to do basically the same thing. An estate actually has more protections, since everything is public and the probate court reviews all assets and transactions. Because trusts are private, they are subject to abuse. You need to have absolute trust in your Trustee.

\
Which can make for a nightmare if you don't have issues with trusting you executor.

+ 1. And, the courts and the lawyer will charge you fees to the extent of 5-10% of assets under probate for their "service"!

and in this area with home values what they are, this would be significantly more than the cost of a trust. How disingenuous of the lawyer posting here.

If you have a straightforward will and a list of assets... I'm not understanding why you would need a lawyer for probate in a state like VA for this situation? The court fees are ~$1.33 per $1000 of estate. Accounts with beneficiaries or TOD do not go through probate.

[Anonymous]

OP, ignore all the rest of this. The real issue is: is the house mortgaged or not? If it's mortgaged, it is more of a PITA to do all the paperwork (what I was told is that if the trust owns the house, the trust has to also own the mortgage). Worth $500.

If you own it free and clear it's just retitling, which probably isn't worth $500.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

An estate has an executor, which is someone you trust, who handles the process. A trust doesn’t solve this problem, as you still need a Trustee to do basically the same thing. An estate actually has more protections, since everything is public and the probate court reviews all assets and transactions. Because trusts are private, they are subject to abuse. You need to have absolute trust in your Trustee.

\
Which can make for a nightmare if you don't have issues with trusting you executor.

Nightmare? No. I've handled multiple estates and never had an issue with obtaining court approval. Even in California, which is one place a trust is worthwhile, the problem isn't dealing with the Court itself, but rather just delay in getting on the calendar due to underfunding of the Court system. Even there, going through probate can be helpful if the estate might be contested and/or have significant debts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This was my concern. Single parent with serious health issues and children are very young adults. Why would I want them to deal with probate and lawyers who might take advantage of them?

An estate has an executor, which is someone you trust, who handles the process. A trust doesn’t solve this problem, as you still need a Trustee to do basically the same thing. An estate actually has more protections, since everything is public and the probate court reviews all assets and transactions. Because trusts are private, they are subject to abuse. You need to have absolute trust in your Trustee.

\
Which can make for a nightmare if you don't have issues with trusting you executor.

+ 1. And, the courts and the lawyer will charge you fees to the extent of 5-10% of assets under probate for their "service"!

and in this area with home values what they are, this would be significantly more than the cost of a trust. How disingenuous of the lawyer posting here.

That's not true everywhere. Some states allow probate lawyers to charge a % of the estate (again, e.g., California, which is one of the reasons a trust is good idea in California), but most probate lawyers charge by the hour. If you have a good executor, they do most of the work. The attorney spends a small amount of time preparing the Court filings, and the fees are minimal.