Estate Planning and Living Trust

A living trust is an agreement in which one person (the grantor) transfers property to a second person (the trustee) for the benefit of a third person (the beneficiary).

A living trust allows the grantor to name either himself or some other person as trustee or co-trustee, reserves his right to revoke the trust at any time and return the property to himself, and lets the grantor control distribution of his estate to his beneficiary upon the grantor's death. A living trust is created while the grantor is alive, rather than upon his death under terms of his will.

A living trust lets you control the distribution of your estate. You simply transfer ownership of your property and your assets into the trust, then serve as its trustee or select a person or an institution to be its trustee.

With a living trust, the person you appoint to handle the trust after your death - the successor trustee - simply transfers ownership to the beneficiaries you named in the trust. Much of the time, this can be accomplished in a few weeks. When all of the property has been transferred to the beneficiaries, the living trust ceases to exist.