Why a Living Trust?

Introduction

A Forewarning

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17

Why a Living Trusts : Summary Perspective On Wills vs. Trusts

No One Would Choose Probate Over A Living Trust If The Choice Was Given At Death
Early on I called it one of the great hoodwinks and suggested that it is the delayed effect and the removal in time that obscures and conceals the true impact of probate and causes people to unknowingly and unconsciously do that which they would never otherwise choose to do if they were suffering the consequences in real time. I stated that if the choice was given at death virtually no one would choose the probate process over a Living Trust. It may serve as a good summary to test this theory.

Pretend you could return as your ghost to administer your estate consisting of a $500,000 house and $250,000 in stocks, and a $50,000 vacation house you co-own with some friends. You walk into a room with two tables that are side by side with a salesperson sitting behind each. For the first time in history the choice will be given at the time.

Choice #1 -- Probate
The brochure & salesperson at the probate table offers to help settle your estate on the following conditions:
• You will first have to turn over all control and signature power on assets to the courts and the government. You will have no signature power until you apply to the courts, seek court approval and wait for permission to make any moves with your assets. During this time you will be granted only very limited and tightly supervised powers on your own assets.
• Our process requires one to two years of heavy lawyer involvement, bureaucratic paper shuffling, court appearances and hearings, court permissions and approvals, etc. -- all before you will be allowed to distribute your assets to whom you intended. If there are any problems it will take a great deal more time -- possibly 5+ years.
• You must pay us fees of approximately $35,000. There will be other fees for special services, selling assets, appraisal fees, tax preparation. If there are problems, challenges or litigation you must pay us substantial additional legal fees. A condition of our services is that all of our fees will be paid first even if your family gets nothing.
• You must publish to the public all aspects of your finances, much of your other personal data, and many details of your family and their entire inheritance.
• You will have to apply to and also pay our out of state representative to take you through much of the same process in the state courts for the out of state vacation house you co-own with your friends. You should also be aware that your friends will have a hard time selling this house until the process is over.
• Finally, at the completion of this process you will have no choice but to but to hand over the entire inheritance due to your spendthrift 19 year old son or grandson for which work is a dirty word and whose idea of wise money use is to have as much fun as possible with beer, party, friends, hot cars, clothes, and skipping college!
• By the way, it’s nice to have the opportunity to thank you for the hefty additional fees we already collected regarding the conervatorship that had to be established because of your incapacity before your death.

Choice #2 – Living Trust
The brochure & salesperson at the Living Trust table offers to help settle your estate on the following conditions:
• In our process you retain complete signature power, are fully in control, and must only follow the terms you yourself set forth. No court involvement, authorization or permission is required – and this includes your out of state property. You can also settle it as fast as you want.
• We require little lawyer participation. Total legal fees will be approximately $600. You may need to arrange for real estate appraisals and some minimal accounting work and tax preparation.
• Everything is completely private.
• The share due the 19 year old will be safely managed until he is at the more mature age you specified. In the meantime you can give him money for college, etc.
• We were happy to help you avoid the expense of conservatorship before your death for no extra charge.

The Only Reason Probate Stays In Business
If this was a real life scenario it is likely that you would look at the salesman at the probate table like he was crazy and even ask him how he ever hoped to stay in business or have any business. He’d say:

“That’s OK. Luckily, you are the only one who has ever been given the choice at the time of death -- otherwise we’d have a real problem. Since that is not the case we have plenty of business from those who unsuspectingly signed up ahead of time without realizing that it came down to this. It helps that the document (Will) these people sign automatically obligating them to this process never mentions anything about all this. It’s not usually talked about at the time either. We have the support and benefit of referrals from many lawyers in this mutually beneficial arrangement”.

“It’s not a conspiracy per se, but everyone also undergoes a conditioning process starting at an early age, that a Will is the way you pass property at death (that trusts are something only for the rich), which is heavily repeated by novels, movies, TV, take your pick. You never hear them refer to the “reading of the Living Trust” do you? We couldn’t have asked for it to evolve better. Most are so brainwashed from years of this unwitting conditioning they don’t even realize they have another and better choice in the matter.

At the very least, few who profit from our business go out of their way to dispel the myth. We don’t like to talk openly about it, but we know there are some lawyers who purposely mislead and steer people our way and there are even others who don’t know any better. Mindsets, rumors, misinformation, stubbornness, and confusion greatly aid our effort too.”

“So you see – there is no real problem for us. Our industry totals can already be counted in the billions of dollars. As long as people aren’t given the choice at death we have enough momentum and vested interest behind this to keep us in business for hundreds of years.”

The case rests. The choice is yours.

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