Major Gifts > Living Trusts
Living Trusts
A living trust lets you provide for yourself and your family before and after your death. It has a built-in flexibility, because it allows you to stay in control of your assets.
Living trusts are fully revocable, so you can change or terminate them at any time during your life. With an irrevocable trust, you give up the power, generally in order to save income taxes.
Even though you reserve the right to change your mind, the possibility of major estate tax savings remains with a living trust.
Benefits of a Revocable Living Trust
If you make yourself the initial beneficiary, you will receive the income from the trust assets.
Plus:
- You have the right to set the investment objectives, add or withdraw the principal, change the terms of the plan or even change the ultimate beneficiary at any time.
- You can turn over the responsibility of investment management to a professional trustee, freeing you from day-to-day financial worries.
- The beneficiaries you name to receive the trust remainder after your lifetime can receive an outright distribution, or the assets can continue in trust.
- A living trust cuts probate costs. Because none of the trust assets are included in your probate estate, probable costs and delays are reduced.
- The terms are private, so the details about the beneficiaries and assets of a living trust usually don’t enter the public record.
Learn More about Your Options
During your lifetime, either a revocable living trust or an irrevocable plan is an effective way of arranging a contribution to the Bogart Pediatric Cancer Research Program. Irrevocable trusts can give you an income tax charitable deduction immediately, but if it’s flexibility you desire, then a living trust might be right for you.
