Should I make a Will or a Living Trust?

[concerned1977]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Viginia

I don't have much, but if i were to die I want to make sure that my family has as little hassle and spends as little $ as possible (and if we can avoid probate that would be great). I am married, but with everything in both of our names (except for the IRA) he shouldn't have any problems. My concern is if both of us die. We have 2 houses, retirement accounts, cars and our bank accounts (including separate accounts for the kdis). My intention is to leave everything to the guardian of the kids (if we both die at the same time). Will a living trust avoid probate for the executor of the estate? or will he/she still have to go through it because of the houses and bank accounts no matter what?

Please note i'm asking on here because I don't have the money for an estate planner. I plan on doing this all on my own.

Thanks.

[Kiawah]

Please note i'm asking on here because I don't have the money for an estate planner. I plan on doing this all on my own.

I'm not a lawyer so this is not a selfish plug for lawyers....but IMHO that is a big mistake. If you sit down with an estate lawyer, they can rather quickly create a comprehensive package for you which will include wills, trusts, poa's, healthcare poa's and living wills, etc that would fit your current and likely anticipated family environment. They know the questions to ask, and which one's that aren't needed because of earlier qualification questions, how & when to put flexibility into the documents (and when to keep tight controls), etc. You'll get guidance as to how assets should be titled, to achieve what you want to achieve.

You will waste soooo much time trying to research each element of this yourself, and I'm sure get it wrong.

For the first will and trust package, definitely get professional guidance. Get it done, get it in place. Those will be dollars well spent, and avoid the potential loss of many dollars if not done right. Just the tax bite alone, if not set up correctly, can cost justify hiring a lawyer.

[FlyingRon]

You'll need a lawyer to make the trusts/wills so why broach all of this with him. The trusts are good for the houses and an investment accounts. Joint accounts with the kids probably escape probate anyway as are the benficiary transfers from the IRA and any insurance.

[concerned1977]

Thanks for the advice