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Essential Things You Need to Know About West Virginia Revocable Living Trust
You should have a perfect estate plan for a seamless asset transfer to your loved ones after death. Simply telling your beneficiaries how you wish the assets to be distributed is not enough. It would help if you also had a revocable living trust to cement these promises.
A revocable living trust allows you to put your assets in a trust and outline how they will be distributed upon your death. You remain the trustee of the trust, but when you die, the successor trustee oversees the distribution of your assets. Keep reading to learn more about revocable living trust in West Virginia.
What is Revocable Living Trust?
A revocable living trust is an estate planning document that allows you to put your assets (bank accounts, properties, retirement accounts, and other possessions) in a trust and provide instructions on how they will be managed or distributed after your death. You can change the details of this document or revoke it as it suits you, as long as you are still alive.
This document gives you ultimate control over your assets when you are alive and long gone. After your death, a successor trustee takes charge of the estate and ensures it is distributed per your instructions in the estate planning document.
Why is a Living Trust So Important in West Virginia?
To start with, a revocable living trust allows you to outline how you would want your assets to be distributed to your heirs. This minimizes the chances of disputes that may arise during succession.
In addition, creating a revocable living trust allows your estate to bypass the probate process, which can take much time and money from your loved ones. Without a living trust, your beneficiaries must wait for months or years and spend much on court/legal fees to get their share of your estate.
A completed West Virginia revocable living trust form is essential to ensure your estate is distributed to the beneficiaries almost immediately after your demise. It also ensures that your estate avoids the probate process.
Although many states have adopted the Uniform Probate Code, West Virginia has not. But your estate can still avoid the complicated court process even without a living trust. For instance, if your estate is worth $100,000 or less, your loved ones will only need simple affidavits to get your estate.
You can also transfer your home using a transfer-on-death deed to bypass the often frustrating probate process.
Is a Will Necessary When You Have a Living Trust?
A will is necessary for some situations, even if you have a living trust. For example, if you have a minor you want to include in your estate plan, you should create a will to designate guardianship. In addition, if you have assets not included in the trust, you should make a will to outline how the assets will be managed or distributed.
Does Having a Living Trust Help Minimize Estate Taxes in West Virginia?
No! Having a living trust will not help lower federal estate taxes. But note that federal estate taxes are levied on estates worth more than $12 million (and $24 million for joint ownership).
If your estate qualifies for estate taxes, you will continue to pay your taxes, and your family will pay taxes due after your demise. But you can still minimize or avoid estate taxes if you leave your estate to the surviving partner under a marital trust.
Creating a Revocable Living Trust, the Easier Way!
Creating a revocable living trust is easier than many people think. Always begin by getting your West Virginia revocable living trust form online, then decide which assets you want to put and transfer to the trust and who and how much they will get after your death. After having the information needed, you should fill out the form and sign it in the presence of a notary public.
Whenever you want to create a living trust, be sure that Forms.legal has your back. We offer all types of revocable living trust forms in West Virginia, which are free. But you must fill out the form online, download and print it. Next, you must sign it before a notary official to make it legal.