When many people think about estate management, they make the mistake of thinking too little about estate management. Now what does that mean? Quite simply, some people don’t put the thought and effort into handling their estate and taking care of their loved ones even after they’ve passed on. As difficult as it might sound, the process of estate management can be rather intuitive once you understand how it works. And when you understand strategies like a living trust, you see just how much you can benefit from proper estate management.

Why single out the living trust? Simple: because it’s one of the best ways to handle your property and pass it down after you’re gone. You see, when you pass on, much of your estate will go through a probate court, as they help decide where and how your assets will be allocated. That’s not what you want, because having a court decide these things leaves the process open to family contests and legal squabbles.

A living trust skirts all that by essentially being an independent piece of property - because the trust itself technically owns the property placed in the trust and you’re simply running the trust, that property does not get included in probate when you pass on. This means the trust can simply change leadership to the person you outlined before you passed on - this will be the person you intended to receive the property in the first place.

For many people, especially those new to estate law, this will seem like an unnecessary step. Why go through all of the trouble of creating a trust if you can just leave your property to someone? The name of the game in estate planning is two-fold: avoiding estate taxes and avoiding probate. Estate taxes are taxes levied on the estate simply because you passed on - it doesn’t seem very fair, but that’s the law we have to deal with. Probate is the process that helps make sure these taxes get paid. In other words, creating a living trust gives you more control over your property by actually giving the property over to the trust.

This step wouldn’t be necessary if there were no estate taxes and no probate laws to deal with. But because that’s the way our laws are constructed, there are a few legal options to skirt these rules and maintain more control over your own estate. By dealing with reality and understanding what a living trust can do for you, you give yourself the power to really hold more control over your estate not only while you’re living, but after you’ve passed on. For people with a lot of property to manage, this is a very intriguing option indeed.

Is a living trust for you? It will depend on a couple of things: how much property you have and what you want done with that property after you pass on. Consult with an estate lawyer to find out exactly what is the best option for your individual situation.