A Guide to Basic Estate Planning

Estate planning can be compared to the creation of a personal legal “suitcase” in which all types of property ownership can be placed including personal belongings, assets, business holdings, financial resources and real estate. The person creating the “suitcase” or Trust is referred to as the Grantor or Settlor and initial Trustee. During the Grantor’s lifetime, the Grantor is in control over all of the assets placed into the Trust or “suitcase” and can take assets out and change the features of the Trust however they want. Because the Grantor has total control over the Trust, the Trust is referred to as Revocable or is frequently named a Revocable Living Trust “RLT”. There are no separate tax returns filed by the Trust and no separate identification numbers required as the RLT is considered the same as the Grantor. The big advantage of the RLT is that the Grantor has already […]