You may know that living trusts provide the benefit of being able to almost completely avoid the requirement that your property pass through probate before your inheritors receive it, but living trusts also offer you the opportunity to ensure that your property is properly managed should something happen to you. Like a power of attorney, you can use a living trust to have someone manage your property if you are suddenly injured, fall ill, or otherwise rendered incapacitated. Here’s how it works.
Your Trustee
Most people who create a revocable living trust choose to serve as their own trustees. This means that when you create the trust you take some of your property, transfer it to the trust, and then serve as the trustee to manage it. This is one of the big reasons why living trusts are so useful, because you don’t have to hire someone to manage the property for you.
The downside to serving as your own trustee is that you won’t be able to manage the trust property if you lose the ability to make decisions. In such a situation someone will have to step in to manage the property for you.
Your Replacement
If you intend to serve as your own trustee, your trust document must allow for a successor trustee to take over in the event of an emergency or your incapacitation. The successor trustee should be someone you trust and someone who can begin managing the trust property without delay.
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