Revocable Trusts | Hawaii Estate Planning
Have you ever stopped and wondered what will happen to your home and property if you pass away?
Will your spouse and children be provided for?
Will your estate be encumbered by large taxes?
The Crucial Importance of Your Trust - to You AND Your Loved Ones
A properly drafted will can give you and your loved ones numerous important benefits.
It outlines exactly who you want to receive your property after you pass away, rather than having the state distribute your assets .
More importantly, it allows you to name a guardian for your minor children so that, in the unfortunate circumstances of a premature death, your children will be immediately provided and cared for.
Your will can also set up a trust for the financial benefit of your minor children.
Why a Trust is Better Than Just A Will - Almost Every Time
A Trust has several major advantages over a Will. First, a Revocable Living Trust avoids probate.
If you pass away in Hawaii with a combined estate valued at over $100,000 and you do not have a trust, your estate & your family will have to go through Probate. No ifs, ands or buts.
Probate is the legal process where the court ensures that your debts are paid and your assets are distributed. It is a very expensive and time consuming process.
Moreover, probate is a public process that can expose your family to disgruntled heirs and lawsuits.
Why a Trust Is Protected from Probate
A Revocable Living Trust avoids probate because it transfers your assets from your name and into the trust.
Legally, the trust owns your assets at the time of your death so there is nothing for the court to control.
However, you still maintain complete control over all of your assets as the trustee of your trust during your lifetime.
Best of all, in most cases the costs to set up a revocable trust are largely tax deductible .
Start Your Trust Today & Protect Your Assets for Those You Care About
Contact us today about drafting a trust or to find out more about the process. You can also learn more below.
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Your Revocable Living Trust Has Many Components, Including:
Long Form Trust
The Long Form Trust is the principal document in your Estate Plan. It enumerates all of the property placed in your trust.
This should include all of your real estate, personal property, bank accounts, credit union accounts, stock portfolios and business interests (such as a limited liability interest or family corporation).
The Long Form Trust will also list the beneficiaries of your estate as well as any specific bequests.You will serve as the first trustee of your trust and will be able to amend any of the information above at any time.Short Form Trust
The Short Form Trust, also called a Trust Certificate, contains only the most pertinent information in your Long Form Trust.
It is used to prove to institutions, such as banks and investment firms, that you are the trustee of your trust and the powers and duties you have as trustee.
Advanced Healthcare Directive
The Advanced Health Care Directive outlines your wishes on matters such as life prolonging medical treatment, organ donation, artificial nutrition, the disposition of your remains, pain relief, and funeral arrangements .
Once it is drafted, your agent has a duty to work with your doctor to ensure that your decisions are respected .
If you fail to draft a health care directive, these decisions will be made for you by your family members.
Burdening your family with these decisions can cause tension and conflict at the worst possible time.
Durable Power of Attorney
If you become disabled or incapacitated, the Durable Power of Attorney allows you to name an agent to make financial decisions.
It gives your agent the power to pay all of your bills so that your financial responsibilities are not neglected while you are incapacitated.
The failure to have a properly drafted power of attorney document can result in damage to your credit, back taxes, and the seizure of your assets.
Conveyance Documents
Your Revocable Living Trust will contain documents conveying you real estate, personal property, and business interests into the trust .
All deeds will be recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances or the Land Court.
This is the Court of Chancery, which has its decaying houses and its blighted lands in every shire, which has its worn-out lunatic in every madhouse and its dead in every churchyard, which has its ruined suitor with his slipshod heels and threadbare dress borrowing and begging through the round of every man’s acquaintance, which gives to monied might the means abundantly of wearying out the right, which so exhausts finances, patience, courage, hope, so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart, that there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give—who does not often give—the warning, ‘Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come here!’”
~ Charles Dickens, Bleakhouse 1852
Get a Trust & Secure Your Loved Ones' Future
Contact us today and learn how a trust protects your assets, your home, your family and your loved ones. Ensure your wishes are carried out, without months of delay and needless taxes.
