Our Estate Planning Experience [Why we set up a trust]

Estate planning is one of those things everyone knows they should do. Still, most don’t do it. According to a recent Caring.com survey, only one in three Americans has a will or trust.  And these statistics make sense when you see why people don’t do… Our Estate Planning Experience [Why we set up a trust] as published on Women Who Money Estate planning is one of those things everyone knows they should do. Still, most don’t do it. According to a recent Caring.com survey, only one in three Americans has a will or trust.  And these statistics make sense when you see why people don’t do it. Many believe they need more assets to create a will or trust. Plus, estate planning can feel like a big chore that costs time and money.  That’s not to mention confusing legal terms and the emotional energy required to plan for your own death. And yet… It’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your loved ones.  An estate plan creates peace of mind. Because once you complete it, you know you won’t leave loved ones with a costly mess when you die. In other words, estate planning is a way to continue to care for loved ones even after you’re gone.  My husband, Alan, and I recently completed our estate plan. Our motivation was to make things easier for our adult children after we’re gone.  The process was painless once we took the first steps! Below, I’ll share our recent estate planning experience and why we set up a trust. Getting past procrastination About 20 years ago, we hired an attorney to draw up a will and power of attorney documents (POAs). Our kids were little, so back then, the catalyst was to name a guardian for them. But now, the kids are adults, and those documents needed updating. Why didn’t we do it sooner? Like most people, it didn’t feel pressing and was easy to put off. Also, we didn’t know what documents we needed. And we hesitated to spend the money on an attorney to help us figure it out.   A turning point was when I read Women Who Money co-founders Amy Blacklock and Vicki Cook’s book, Estate Planning 101. After reading the book cover to cover, I better understood our options. And I knew a living trust would be a good option for us. Still, it felt like a chore. Plus, setting up a trust is more expensive than doing a will and POAs. So, we continued putting it off. Until my grandma died.  My grandma set up a trust after my grandpa died years ago. And, as my grandmother’s health deteriorated last year, my parents also set up a trust.  When grandma died, I saw firsthand how trusts work. Since Grandma had a trust, nothing passed through probate courts. As a result, my mom and uncle didn’t have to wait for the money to pay her final bills. And my grandma’s assets were transferred quickly and efficiently to her children.   Alan and I decided then that we wanted a trust to make things as easy as possible for our kids after we die. Related reading: Do I Need a Living Trust in My Estate Plan? Why we set up a living trust We felt a living trust was best since it better protected assets and made things easier for our family after we’re gone. A living trust is a separate legal entity that holds assets. Trustees can change a trust and move assets in or out anytime. Plus, it’s revocable until death. And the trust continues to have control over the assets, even after death. Read on for more on why we set up a trust. We needed to update our will anyway. Our old will was nearly 20 years old and designed to name a guardian for our then-minor children. But it needed to be revised since our kids are grown, and life has changed in many ways. We would spend the money to do a new will and power of attorney documents anyway. So, we decided that part of that cost could go toward creating a living trust.  The cost of