Revocable Living Trust

A Revocable Living Trust (also referred to as a RLT, Living Trust, or Family Trust) is a popular estate planning document that is a helpful tool used to accomplish many of the following objective:

  • Avoid Probate.
  • Conserve assets for the benefit of Minor Children until they reach age 18 (or a different age).
  • Conserve or restrict assets for the benefit of irresponsible children or loved ones.
  • Allocate assets for the benefit of people who have special needs or require financial supervision (see also Special Needs Trusts).
  • Save tax.

Their are three major components of every Revocable Living Trust:

  • Trustor(s) – A Trustor is a person who creates the trust.
  • Trustee(s) – A Trustee is a person who manages the trust.
  • Beneficiary – A beneficiary is a person who has a vested interest in trust property.

Most commonly, the person who creates a Trust is initially the Trustor, Trustee, and Beneficiary. If the Trustor becomes in a declined state and is unable to manage the trust, then an alternate Trustee (called a Successor Trustee) would step in with a duty to use all the trust assets for the benefit of the trustor. If the Trustor