Title: Living Trusts and Asset Protection
1Living Trusts and Asset Protection
Commonly Asked Questions And Answers
2Living Trusts
3What Is A Living Trust?
4A living trust, also called revocable living
trusts or inter vivos trusts, is a document that
creates a relationship between you, some or all
of your property, and other people you
specifically identify in the document
5Trust Parties
6What People Do I Identify In My Living Trust?
7You (the trustor) have to name a trustee who will
manage the trust
8YOULL ALSO HAVE TO IDENTIFY THE BENEFICIARY(S),
the person(s) who gets to use or benefit from
the property you transfer to the trust
9Trust Property
10What Do I Transfer To My Trust?
11Almost anything you like
12You can transfer any of your individually owned
property into the trusts name
13Trust property, once properly transferred from
you to the trust, is known as the trust corpus
14Asset Protection
15Will A Living Trust Help Me Protect My Assets?
16NO
17If you want to protect your assets from, for
example, creditors or lawsuits, your living
trust is not the tool to rely upon
18Though there are other asset protection tools
available, living trusts are not suited for this
purpose
19Benefits
20If Living Trusts Dont Provide Asset Protection,
What Do They Do?
21They primarily allow you to avoid probate
22You can use your trust to transfer your property
to your heirs after you die, allowing your estate
to save unnecessary expenses and avoid the often
lengthy probate process
23Creation
24 What Do I Need To Do To Create A Living Trust?
25Write It Down
26The trust creation process itself is not
difficult, though you need to create a document
that meets Colorado legal standards
27You also need to make sure you transfer your
property to the trust properly, a process called
funding
28Funding can be complicated, and often takes
careful planning
29Other Options
30If I want to protect my assets, do I even need a
living trust?
31Probably, though it depends on your circumstances
32 An estate plan that focuses on asset protection
will likely use several tools
33 However, even though a living trust does not
afford asset protection benefits, your plan might
still include such a trust because of the
benefits it does provide
34Learn More About Living Trusts and Asset
Protection in Colorado
35www.ColoradoEstatePlan.com
719-520-1474 303-736-6060