Georgia residents who are creating their estate plan might want to consider placing their home in a living trust. This may allow the home to be transferred more quickly to the beneficiary without having to go through probate. A trust is also more private than a will because it is not considered a matter of public record.

If a person owns real estate in other states, a living trust can be particularly useful because otherwise, there will be probate processes happening in multiple states. The lender should be notified that the home is being placed in a trust if there is a mortgage, and people should make a list of the assets they place in the trust.

One choice a person will need to make is whether to create a revocable or irrevocable trust. A revocable trust allows a person to change or cancel the trust. An irrevocable trust does not, but it has other advantages, including tax advantages, because it removes the assets in it from a person’s estate.

Trusts have many different uses for different situations. For example, they can be set up to allow charitable giving along with providing income for a beneficiary. They can be designed to help support a relative with special needs without interfering with the government benefits that relative might be receiving. They can be set up to tie distributions to a person’s age or educational attainments or to other milestones. Alternately, a trustee may be given the responsibility of choosing when to make distributions to beneficiaries.

Estate Planning Workshop