What Kinds of Property Should Be Placed Inside a Living Trust?

Want to use a living trust in Virginia? Or need more information about how a living trust differs from an irrevocable trust? In these cases, educating yourself is a great first step and one that you can follow with a Virginia Beach estate planning lawyer meeting.

Your most valuable property should be included inside your living trust to get the greatest benefit. One of the biggest reasons that most people create a revocable living trust with the help of an estate planning lawyer is to avoid the fees, court involvement and long process of probate. The more an item is worth, the more it could potentially cost to push it through probate.

Some of the most common pieces of property to consider including in your revocable living trust are:

• Precious metals
• Security accounts held by brokerages and stocks and bonds
• Real estate
• Copyrights and patents
• Small business interests
• Valuable works of art
• Valuable collections

You are eligible to add property to your living trust at any time and since you will likely appoint yourself in the role of trustee in order to manage it, you can also give away or sell property in the trust or remove it and then put it back in your name as an individual. Although a living trust is a popular estate planning tool, it’s certainly not the only way to decrease the possible expense or frustration of probate.