Many retirees take up residence in Arizona because of its mild winters and status as a tax-friendly state. These rates are as low as 2.59% for married filers.

Once here, these retirees address their end of life wishes by talking to an attorney to discuss their estate planning. A lot of times they will protect their assets by creating a living trust. Also known as a revocable living trust (or also irrevocable living trust), an estate planning attorney helps them protect their families and their assets. An estate planning lawyer will also make sure they can make decisions even if they became incapacitated by putting in place instruments, like financial powers of attorneys and health care powers of attorneys, as well as Living wills.

For probate lawyers, Chandler is the perfect place to work because of the many clients from unique backgrounds they encounter. A revocable living trust in Chandler is a useful tool to help you ensure that your assets and well-being are protected.

Obviously, your first step is to choose an attorney who's familiar with trust and wills laws in Arizona's unique probate laws. Once they are selected, you can continue to set up your living trust.

In the following article, we'll take you through setting up these steps and why an estate planning attorney is so important.

Benefits of Creating a Living Trust

You do not need to be extremely wealth to benefit from a living trust. In fact, even people with a moderate estate will benefit from a revocable trust. The three main benefits are

• A seamless transfer of assets;
• Avoiding probate courts;
• Almost compete privacy.

Other benefits can include an ironclad way to manage inheritances and the possibility of reduced tax liability.

A living trust is a great way to organize your estate and reap the benefits of your assets while alive and ensuring peace of mind if anything should happen to your suddenly.

How Does A Living Trust Work?

First, you'll need to decide on an estate planning attorney in Chandler. Then, you and your attorney will review your assets.

You will likely need to describe your health and detail your family relations for the Chandler estate planning attorney. You'll need to do this so they can give you the most accurate and helpful counsel on how to set up the revocable trust. Their goal is to find the best instruments to protect you and your family.

Once the outline of the trust is determined, the estate attorney creates your estate planning portfolio, and he will review it with the cliet. As part of the estate planning documents, the signee or "settlor" chooses a trustee and a trustee successor. The trustee is the person who manages the living trust and it can be the person creating the living trust.

The client will schedule a second meeting to sign all the documents. Once the documents are signed, that creates the living trust, the settlor's assets "fund" the living trust. A trust needs to be funded to work. Bank accounts and property needs to be assigned to the trust. The best estate planning attorneys will make sure to include provisions for assets to be moved to the trust in case a client fails to properly maintain and fund the trust.

If the settlor or trustee should pass away or become mentally incapacitated, the living trust immediately transfers to the successor trustee. Since in Arizona, there's no need to process the trust through probate court, a small trust administration will start. The trust administration doesn't involve the probate courts and it is faster than a probate.

Other Issues to Consider

Remember, you may have to pay some initial expenses for having a trust created by an attorney. And you should be prepared to have the majority of your assets in the trust.

You should also be prepared to understand how your trust will work. The best estate planning attorney doesn't expect you to became a specialist in it but they do need your help to maintain your trust properly.

One thing to also keep in mind is that in Arizona, creditors have different recourses with a revocable trust than they do if your estate went through the probate process. Your beneficiaries will still need to settle or manage the creditors when they start the trust administration process. With a trust they will be able to talk to creditors and pay any debts left behind faster. If a trust is not in place and probate is required a personal representative will have to be appointed, which can be an expensive and time consuming problem.

However, debt is just a fact of life, and many people plan for this by evaluating their income and planning according.

If you are worried about divorce or issue with creditors in the next generation, as well as having a child with special needs, discussed with your attorney the possibility of creating an irrevocable trust.

Ready to Get Started?

Creating a living trust in Arizona is one of the best ways to protect your assets and loved ones — both their finances and their privacy.

And while the process can seem daunting, an experienced estate attorney or trust and will attorney can walk you through the process at your own pace and make sure that your senior years are free of worry.

Are you ready to set up your living trust? Contact Citadel Law Firm today to speak with an attorney who specializes in estate planning and revocable trusts. Call (480)565-8020 or click here to schedule a free consultation.

You may also want to read our blog article to understand if you need a Living Trust in Arizona. If you want to understand if how a living trust can help you avoid Probate click here.

If you want to understand a little bit more about Living Wills read this blog article. If you want to work with a Phoenix estate planning lawyer "near me" click here.