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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. We spoke with a small law firm. Turns out we don't need a trust and can go the will route. Total price:

Last Will and Testament - $650
Power of Attorney (Couple) - $175
Medical Directive (Couple) - $175
Total Cost of Estate Plan - $1000[/quote]

Yeah, most people with holdings like yours (one house, basic retirement accounts) don't need a trust. People on DCUM who respond to posts like this are disproportionally richer, with more complex holdings, so you will see more responses of people who should probably have a trust.  Most people don't need one.[/quote]

We have a NW of est $15M and our attorney continues to assure us we don't need a trust.  The attorney is estate planning specialists, well regarded so we trust her.  [/quote]

Yeah I am neither a lawyer nor a financial planner, but my basic understanding is that it's not really about amounts, per se, that make a trust necessary, it's about complexity of assets (and estate taxes in different states).  If you have homes in multiple states, have ownership shares of private companies, have significant physical assets (say expensive art, jewelry), those sorts of circumstances make a trust a good idea- again, generally speaking.

Feels like some people end up with a trust because of a lawyer trying to boost their billable hours, or because they like the "idea" of a having a trust. It somehow can feel prestigious or something.[/quote]

That's quite a crock of bs.

Wills are public. I can write to the county where anyone died and request a copy of their will. There are companies that buy probate filings and then [/b]harass the family[b]. You will find people who barely knew your dearly departed coming to you saying they were promised things.

[/quote]

Can you give a specific example of someone who has been substantively harassed through this path?  Other than say a single letter?

This feels like a very very low likelihood of this sort of thing being a real problem.[/quote]

DP. I haven’t heard of that scenario but people are absolutely going around and putting conservatorships on people in Florida and taking everything they own.

These aren’t the worst stories.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/11/04/florida-guardianship-investigation-safeguards/[/quote]

Right, this I am aware of, but it isn't related to wills/trusts, etc.  [/quote]

Well, a 10 second Google turned up this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EstatePlanning/comments/160f12c/home_in_probategetting_random_texts/[/quote]

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