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When considering a trust, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons of a trust before making any decisions. Trusts often rank high on people’s estate planning lists because they provide a structured way to pass assets to loved ones after death. However, a trust that benefits one family may not be the best choice for another. Estate planning is not one-size-fits-all, and recognizing that fact is crucial. By understanding the pros and cons of a trust, you can make informed choices that suit your family’s unique needs and goals, rather than simply following what worked for someone else.
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we are going to talk about some of the advantages and disadvantages of creating trust. At the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we pride ourselves on putting our clients first and in counseling them on how to best structure their lives to benefit themselves and their families. If you have any questions after reading today’s blog post, then please do not hesitate to contact our office for a free of charge consultation. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the estate planning circumstances that you may be facing.
Share Bryan Fagan's Guide to Trust Pros & ConsAvoiding probate: at the top of everyone’s list of estate planning goals
The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan have been fortunate to be able to work with many families who haven’t gone through the estate planning process. And being able to work with these folks, one of the major goals that clients have discussed with our office is to be able to avoid the probate process. Going through probate forces families to wait a long time for assets to be distributed and debts to be paid. The estate covers the costs of the case, which reduces its value over time. Families should avoid probate whenever possible.
With that said, we can compare the ability to avoid probate when looking at a trust versus a last will and testament. Wills and trusts are the two most common forms of estate planning for Texans. Both offer distinct advantages and disadvantages. However, one of the most significant advantages of creating a living trust versus a will is that a trust allows you to avoid probate court. Let’s spend some time discussing this point further while we focus on why it is important to avoid probate, if possible.
We have touched on a key point that probate can cost a significant amount of money. That the costs of probate are borne out of the proceeds of an estate makes it even more essential that you carefully consider your options before determining whether a trust or a will is the direction that you should go in when it comes to estate planning. Probate is essential for some estates when it comes to distributing assets and paying off debts. In certain situations, you will find that it is unavoidable to go through probate. However, a trust may help some of you out there avoid probate altogether.
Owning property in multiple states can complicate probate for your family
Another facet to this discussion is that if you own property in more than one state, then it could be the case that your family will have to go through multiple probate courts in each state. The costs and time for each case vary, creating significant uncertainty. This does not mean the property will go undistributed, but more probate cases increase the chances of delays or problems. In this situation, probate can become especially difficult for your family.
Planning your estate diligently and going through all the different options available to you would be the choice that makes the most sense for you if you want to avoid probate. If you are sitting at home and wondering how you can avoid probate, then no one has advanced that simply going through the estate planning process can be the solution that you were looking for. Take the time now to learn about the different options available to you so that you do not make mistakes and possibly cost your family money and time.
How a trust can save your family valuable time in estate planning
One part of estate planning that people often overlook is time. Money and resources matter, but time is the one thing you can’t make more of. We all get the same 24 hours, and once they’re gone, they’re gone. Waiting through long probate delays is time your family can’t get back. That’s why we need to talk about how a trust can give you a real advantage by saving valuable time.
Probate in Texas can take anywhere from a few months to a year, and once it starts, your family has little control over the timeline. Avoiding that waiting period can be a huge advantage. When planning your estate, remember this may be your last chance to make handling financial matters easier for your loved ones.
To better illustrate this point about the importance of saving time in a probate case, let’s use a hypothetical situation involving you and your family. Suppose that your estate plan did not utilize any of the advantages of trust creation. Rather, you created a will and left it at that. In theory, there is nothing wrong with this. Estate planning is something that every adult should do. A will is the most basic form of estate planning, and if more people created wills, their families would be better off. However, in this situation, the creation of a will did not help your case to avoid the probate process after you passed away.
The impact of probate on families and the role of an executor
The person that you named as executor of the will had to probate the will before distributing any of the property contained in the estate. This means going through a probate case, including filing the case, obtaining authority from the court to proceed as executor, having letters testamentary provided to you, and then settling debts and ultimately distributing property. Executors and probate courts across Texas handle these tasks every day, but the process still impacts families like yours. Saving time matters because your family directly feels the burden of delays in the probate case.
Let’s add to our example and say you have a niece who’s a single mother of three. She works hard to care for her kids, but could always use some extra financial help. You and your wife have supported her when you can, especially with everyday expenses like medical care and school costs—which, as any parent knows, add up quickly.
As a result, you and your wife have always been happy to help wherever possible. When you created your estate plan, you first thought of your niece as someone who could benefit from the funds in your estate. So, you decided to leave a great deal of property on your lease. Your thought was that this would be the best way to help her, especially if you passed away when she still had young children.
How probate delays can affect the distribution of property to family members
As the circumstances allowed, you did pass away while she still had teenage children in the home. Your wife acted as executor of the estate but found that she would need to go through probate to distribute your property. Following all the procedures of the court, your wife discovered that the probate process was going to take several months to complete. While your wife had the family home and other assets that passed to her without probate being necessary, your niece was left in a position where she had to wait months to receive property out of the estate.
At a certain point, time and money intersect as far as competing resources. The time spent attending to matters related to probating your estate could have been saved had you gone through your estate plan to create a trust rather than a will. This could have allowed you to pass the property to your niece sooner rather than later. The situation turned out that money had to be held up in probate first before it could be distributed to your niece.
Why working with an estate planning attorney helps you make informed choices
The bottom line is that all options should be pursued when it comes to your estate. If you were unaware of what a trust was or if you simply did not understand its benefits, then that would be understandable. Most people do not possess an extremely large amount of knowledge about the estate planning process. However, if you choose to work with an experienced estate planning attorney then you would have all the resources necessary to make an informed decision about your estate and how to proceed as intelligently as possible. Again, there is nothing wrong with creating a will as an estate plan. However, you should pursue the best options for your family based on considering the most amount of information possible.
Before you jump into a specific type of estate plan, it makes sense to reach out and contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan first. Meeting with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys does not commit you to anything as far as hiring our office. In these free-of-charge consultations, we can walk you through the different options that may be available to you after diligently listening to what you have to say and answering questions that you may have. From there, you can decide whether hiring an attorney would be something that makes sense for you and your family.
Probate cases are public
Another consideration that may factor into the decision-making for you and your family as to what kind of estate planning vehicle is best for you all is that a probate case is a public record. Using a living trust to avoid probate also keeps your financial matters private. Probate cases become public record, allowing anyone to access documents or attend hearings. For some of you reading this blog post, that may not sound like a major issue. However, for others of you, this may be something that you wish to avoid at all costs.
Control your finances as much as possible by creating a trust
Ultimately, what we are searching for when we engage in estate planning is to be able to maintain some degree of control over our finances after we pass away. For many people, this is a reality that does not truly sink in until it may be too late. However, there is some finality associated with estate planning given that you will no longer be with us when your estate plan needs to be examined further. At that point, the effectiveness of the plan will be judged by the experience of your family in attempting to settle the estate.
When you have a living trust you can protect your family in a variety of different ways. For instance, you can decide not to distribute certain types of property to certain family members until they reach a certain age or graduate from school. Additionally, if you are concerned that assets may become susceptible to creditors or ex-spouses, then a trust would be a sensible option for you to pursue as far as shielding your assets on behalf of those whom you want to receive that property after you pass away.
Conclusion
Finally, if you have family members with special needs, such as a spouse or children, a trust allows you to provide for them in a structured way. The reality is that you don’t have to distribute all your property immediately after your death. With a living trust, you decide how and when your property is distributed, giving you greater control and flexibility. In contrast, a will requires the probate court to approve distribution, and once approved, your executor must follow strict timelines. Understanding the pros and cons of a trust helps highlight this key difference, showing how a trust can offer more autonomy and tailored solutions for your family’s unique needs.
This can be important if you have a family member who needs the property to be distributed later for any number of reasons. If you have a brother who is going through issues with creditors, then he may not want to receive that property now. With a trust, he can settle his debts and then receive property later if that is his choice. Once debts have been settled or discharged through bankruptcy, there would be more money available to him.
With so much at stake in a probate or estate planning situation, you need to have as much trustworthy information as possible. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan thanks you for joining us today here in our blog. We post unique and informative content daily and hope that you will join us again tomorrow. New paragraph
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you have any questions about the material contained in today’s blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed estate planning attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas estate planning as well as how a probate case could impact the life of your family.
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