Placing homes in trusts

North Carolina residents may want to consider placing their homes in living trusts. These estate planning tools may help their grantors to pass their homes to their beneficiaries much more quickly and without having to deal with the expenses of the probate court process.

Living trusts may be revocable or irrevocable. Irrevocable trusts cannot be changed after they are established. When an irrevocable living trust is funded with the home, then creditors cannot reach the property, and it is removed from the value of the person’s estate. This may be a good option for people who have very large estates and who want to remove their homes from the estates so that they might meet the estate tax exemption.

Revocable trusts can be changed, allowing the grantors to do what they wish with the assets contained within them. When the grantors die, the assets included in the trusts pass directly to their beneficiaries as called for by the terms of the trusts. Both types of trusts are good to use for people who own vacation homes in other states so that their families do not have to deal with probate courts in multiple jurisdictions.

People who are interested in learning about whether trusts might be right for them might want to consult with estate planning lawyers. Counsel can review a client’s financial picture as well as the familial situation and estate planning needs and then recommendthat might best help the client to pass his or her assets quickly while also reducing the potential taxes and associated costs. There are a variety of different types of trusts that can be set up to accomplish a number of different purposes.