Is a Living Trust Really the Best Way to Pass an Inheritance to Your Family?

This article is intended for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. For guidance on your personal situation, please contact a lawyer.

Whether you're a high-net-worth individual or an average earner with a modest estate, you deserve to have control over what happens to your assets in the event of your passing. To that end, you have a few options.

You could create a will that outlines your wishes or set up a living trust as part of your estate plan .

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Putting a living trust in place can be costlier and more time-consuming than a typical will. But there's a good reason to make that investment.

When you get to avoid probate

A living trust is a legal arrangement that allows you to retain control of your assets while you're alive and pass them on to your heirs. Perhaps the biggest benefit of having a living trust is that it allows you to avoid the probate process.

Probate is the legal process of proving that a will is legitimate. And according to the American Bar Association, the average time to complete it is six to nine months.

However, that's just an average. And it's not unheard of for the process to carry on for a year or more. During that time, your loved ones may be unable to access the assets you've left them. Plus, they might have to deal with a prolonged hassle at a time when they may be overwhelmed with grief.

Furthermore, there's a cost to probate, and according to LegalZoom, it can be 3% to 7% of the value of your estate -- sometimes higher. That's less money for your heirs to inherit.

There's also the privacy of your family to consider. When a will goes through probate, it becomes a matter of public record. This means that nosy family members who aren't included in your will can access its contents and see exactly how much your beneficiaries inherit.

If all of this sounds unappealing to you, it definitely pays to consider a living trust. It may be just the thing that helps your loved ones settle your estate more easily at a time when they're apt to be in a vulnerable place.

Discuss your options with an attorney

At this point, you may be inclined to look into a living trust. You could do your own research online, but generally, your best bet is to sit down with an estate planning attorney who can help you understand the pros and cons of this arrangement.

An attorney can also help you understand the costs of setting up a living trust, which are apt to exceed those of a standard will. And depending on your circumstances, the extra expense may not be worth it. However, it's good to arm yourself with that information so you can make an informed decision rather than assume off the bat that a living trust won't make sense financially.

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