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Thinking about an estate plan? Have you heard the advantages of a living trust verses a will? If you do not have an estate plan in place the government has one for you. If you die without a will or living trust, your heirs will receive your estate after the probate process. This is not a good choice given the time and cost factors involved in probate. So you may have heard someone tell you to go online and find the legal documents to create your own estate plan.

You have probably heard of a living trust. You perhaps receive direct mail from attorneys promoting their estate planning seminars. Today those estate planning lawyers compete with websites offering estate planning kits in a box for under one hundred dollars. Why pay seven hundred and fifty dollars to have a lawyer do what in can do for under a hundred some say as they click the submit to order button.

Probate can take from six months to in some cases two years to complete. There are legal fees involved and also court costs. And realize that even if you have a will your estate will have to go through the probate process. So your best plan is to prepare a living trust.

However, if you have the idea of going online or going to your local book store to find the legal documents you need to create your own living trust, please think again.

Think of it this way. You would not buy a do it yourself heart surgery kit if you needed heart surgery. You would go to a professional. Go to a legal professional for your estate planning needs.

By the way a living trust is a better option than only having a will. A will is subject to probate in certain instances. Probate is a costly process and can take anywhere from six months to three years to complete, depending on the court’s calendar. Also, when your estate is in probate and is open to the public. So any creditors to your estate have a public invitation to come and take. A living trust, properly prepared, is private not open to the public. Also, there is no probate required, again if prepared correctly.

Do you have a taxable estate? Do you know what a taxable estate is? The law in this area changes regularly and you need an expert to help keep you up on this area of law. If your estate is subject to estate tax, there are ways to help your heirs from having to part with your estate to pay the government the taxes they demand. One way is to have a life insurance trust in place. You need a lawyer and a life insurance agent to work on this for you.

One of the most important steps people leave out is moving their possessions like their real estate into their trust. A living trust is a legal document only when it is prepared correctly and your estate is properly transferred into the trust itself.

Yes legal documents abound on the world wide web. And yes, some documents are handy and simple to order and simple to fill out. And some serve their purpose. And some you really do not need a lawyer to help you with them. But when you need a living trust prepared, go to a legal professional and pay the extra money. Your heirs will thank you when you are gone.

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