Do I Need A Trust?

A close friend’s father recently passed away. He’d lived a grand life and left a wonderful heritage. But the aftermath of his passing was VERY different than many I’ve seen. The difference was simple – he’d executed a trust. As a result, the winding up of his affairs for his widow, his children, and anyone else that was involved were greatly simplified. They could reflect on his life, mourn his passing, and enjoy his legacy rather than attempting to work through the grief while initiating probate, chasing documents and running into delays and roadblocks. It reminded me once again of the importance and value of a little advance planning.

I’m regularly asked by clients if now is a good time for them to do a will or trust. I used to respond with something like “yes, when you get a moment to focus on it.” But now, my response is far more direct – “if you don’t have something in place now, you should act immediately to address it!” The change in my response is directly related to many situations I’ve seen where an unexpected passing left the survivors picking up some very challenging pieces, during a very difficult time.

Establishing a trust is simple – visit with your legal advisor and make some basic decisions about who you trust to execute your wishes as well as what you want done with your assets when you pass. It shouldn’t be expensive either – our firm’s complete trust package is well under $1,500 with all the bells and whistles. And in some cases, the cost can be even less.

The important thing is to get it done now. Once it’s done, you can leave it and know that your survivors will have the same positive experience my friend and his family did. At the risk of sounding solicitous, if you’re not sure where to start, this is one instance where I’m asking that you give our Firm, or a firm like ours, a call and get started TODAY. Hopefully you’ve got a long life ahead of you. But life is uncertain and you never know when your time will come.