Our Trust Attorney in Dallas Helps DFW and North Texas Families With Their Estate Planning Needs
At Warren & Migliaccio, we recognize that thinking about your own passing can be a challenging and emotional experience. However, estate planning has many benefits, like peace of mind and security for you and your loved ones. Our trust attorney in Dallas aims to make setting up a revocable living trust in Texas as straightforward as possible.
Whether you are ready to set up an estate plan or exploring whether a revocable living trust is right for you, do not hesitate to schedule a consultation with our firm. We are happy to answer your questions and discuss your needs and goals during a consultation. We can also discuss potential estate planning tools, the benefits of each, and how we can help you establish your estate plan. Call our Dallas estate planning lawyers at (888) 584-9614 or contact us online to get started.
What Is a Texas Revocable Living Trust?
Generally, a revocable living trust is a legal arrangement that allows individuals to manage their assets during their lifetime and ensure an efficient distribution of their estate to their beneficiaries after death.
The creator of the trust, known as a grantor, transfers assets and property into the trust while alive. The trust is managed by a trustee, who is often the grantor during their lifetime.
As the trustee, you have complete control over your assets during your lifetime. You can spend your money like normal and add or remove assets from the trust as your circumstances change. Additionally, as long as you have legal capacity, you can amend the terms of the trust, update beneficiaries, or revoke the trust at any time while alive.
In the event of the grantor’s incapacitation or death, a designated successor trustee manages the trust. If you become incapacitated, you can specify how your successor trustee should manage your financial matters and handle your living and care expenses while you are alive.
Upon the grantor’s death, the trust specifies how assets should be distributed to beneficiaries. The successor trustee transfers the assets to the trust’s beneficiaries, bypassing the probate process, according to the established terms.
What Are the Benefits of Setting Up a Revocable Living Trust in Texas?
A revocable living trust offers a flexible solution for managing your assets during and after your lifetime. Some of the primary benefits of establishing a revocable living trust as part of your estate plan include the following:
Avoid Probate
If you die in Texas with a will, or even without a will, your estate must go through the probate process. The most significant advantage of using a revocable living trust is that it avoids probate.
Probate is a public, court-supervised process of settling an estate after someone dies. It involves validating the decedent’s will, if there is one, inventorying their assets, paying off debts and taxes, and distributing the remaining assets to beneficiaries. More so, if the decedent owned property in multiple states, the estate may have to go through separate probate proceedings in each state. This process can take months or even years and be costly from court and attorney’s fees.
In contrast, assets held in a revocable living trust bypass the probate process. A revocable living trust streamlines the distribution of the estate to the decedent’s beneficiaries without court intervention.
Maintain Privacy
When an estate goes through probate, details about its contents, value, beneficiaries, and terms become public information. On the other hand, revocable living trusts do not have to go through probate, so they remain private. This privacy is valuable for individuals who want to keep their finances out of the public eye and maintain privacy for their beneficiaries.
Plan for Incapacitation
Unlike wills, which do not take effect until death, revocable living trusts take effect as soon as they are signed and funded. Because a revocable living trust operates during your lifetime, it offers a way to plan for incapacitation or managing your assets if you cannot do so yourself.
You can designate a successor trustee to manage the trust’s assets according to your instructions should you become incapacitated. By incorporating incapacity planning in your revocable living trust, your family will not have to go through the court process for guardianship to manage your estate. Instead, your successor trustee will handle your financial affairs as you have outlined.
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How Does a Revocable Living Trust Work?
A revocable living trust has multiple main components. By understanding these components, you can better understand how a revocable living trust functions. These components include:
- Grantor. The grantor is the individual who creates the trust. They decide the terms of the trust, including the beneficiaries and how the assets will be managed and distributed. The grantor transfers ownership of their assets to the trust in order to fund it.
- Trustee. The trustee is responsible for managing the trust. In most cases, the grantor serves as the trustee during their lifetime, which allows them to maintain control over their assets and modify or revoke the trust at any time.
- Successor trustee. The successor trustee manages the trust after the grantor’s incapacitation or death. The role involves ensuring the trust’s terms are executed as the grantor intended. Upon the grantor’s death, the successor trustee is in charge of distributing assets to beneficiaries and has a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the beneficiaries.
- Beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are the individuals or entities the trust benefits. Beneficiaries have rights to the assets or income of the trust, as specified in the trust agreement. There can be primary beneficiaries, who are the first to receive benefits, and contingent beneficiaries, who receive benefits if the primary beneficiaries cannot.
- Trust assets. The trust assets are the assets that the grantor transfers into the trust. A trust only applies to assets that have been transferred into it. These assets may include but are not limited to, real estate, bank accounts, investments, and personal property.
Our Dallas Trust Lawyers Serve Individuals and Families Across North Texas
At Warren & Migliaccio, our team of Dallas trust attorneys works with individuals and families throughout DFW and North Texas to plan for the future with comprehensive estate plans. We are committed to providing tailored estate plans that meet our clients’ unique needs and objectives. A few of the counties and cities we provide estate planning services in include, but are not limited to:
- Collin County: Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Murphy, and Anna
- Dallas County: Dallas, Irving, Garland, DeSoto, and Farmers Branch
- Denton County: Denton, Lewisville, Little Elm, The Colony, Corinth, and Highland Village
- Rockwall County: Rockwall, Fate, and McLendon-Chisolm
- Tarrant County: Fort Worth, Arlington, North Richland Hills, Euless, Bedford, and Keller
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Frequently Asked Questions About Texas Revocable Living Trusts
Below, we have answered some of the most common questions we get about revocable living trusts. If you have additional questions about setting up a trust or estate plan, do not hesitate to schedule a consultation with a living trust attorney in Dallas from our firm.
Is a Trust Better Than a Will in Texas?
Our trust attorneys in Dallas, TX assist North Texans in creating estate plans that meet their needs and goals. In most cases, we recommend using various estate planning tools to ensure your plan is comprehensive and does not leave any significant gaps that could cause delays or issues in the distribution of your estate.
Revocable living trusts have unique advantages. For example, unlike a will, a revocable living trust allows assets to avoid probate, which is a public process. Your assets can be distributed to your beneficiaries quickly after you pass away. A trust is also valid in the event of incapacitation.
However, a revocable living trust also has its limitations. A trust only applies to assets that have been transferred into it, which can take time to set up. Additionally, parents cannot designate guardianship using a revocable living trust.
A will, on the other hand, allows parents to designate a guardian for minor children. This is critical for parents, as it ensures they have a say in who would take care of their children if both parents were to pass away. Additionally, a will can provide instructions for assets and property that did not end up in the trust.
In most cases, you, your family, and your estate are better protected by using both a will and a trust.
Related: Living Trust vs. Will in Texas
How Do I Fund a Trust in Texas?
A trust only controls and applies to assets transferred into it. Transferring your assets into a trust is the process of funding it.
Generally, this process begins with inventorying and identifying which assets you want to place into the trust. Then, you must change an asset’s title or ownership document to transfer it into the trust. You will change the ownership from your name to the name of the trustee.
Most personal property does not likely have an ownership document. In this case, you can sign a general transfer document stating that the trustee now owns the property.
See our complete guide about making and funding a living trust in Texas.
Does a Revocable Trust Avoid Probate in Texas?
Yes, assets held in a revocable living trust are directly transferred to the beneficiaries as outlined in the trust document. They do not have to go through the probate process.
Can a Revocable Living Trust Reduce Estate Taxes?
A revocable living trust does not reduce estate taxes by itself. However, Texas does not have a state estate tax, so your estate may only be subject to federal estate taxes.
Most individuals do not need to worry about federal estate taxes because the current threshold is more than $13 million. However, if your assets may meet or exceed the federal estate tax limit, discuss your situation with an experienced estate planning lawyer. We can discuss strategies for minimizing federal estate taxes.
Contact a Dallas Trust Lawyer to Discuss Creating a Revocable Trust in Texas Today
At Warren & Migliaccio, we understand that estate planning may feel overwhelming and complicated. Our team of experienced Dallas trust attorneys is here to take the stress out of estate planning. We offer three levels of estate planning services to meet your unique needs and goals.
If you have questions about creating a Texas revocable trust as part of your estate plan, we welcome you to contact us. During a consultation, we can answer your legal questions, discuss your objectives, and highlight how we can help you prepare a legally sound and comprehensive estate plan. Call us at (888) 584-9614 or contact us online, and we will contact you soon.
