From an estate planning perspective, creating a trust may be the best decision you can make. As you begin to learn more about this option, it’s important to focus on what you should and should not be doing.
Here are some of the many mistakes that people continually make when considering or creating a trust:
- Assuming that a will is better than a trust. This may be true for some, but you shouldn’t make this determination until you learn more about the details of both.
- Neglecting to update your trust. Just the same as a will, you may need to make changes to your trust as the years go by. You should expect this to be the case.
- Ignoring other aspects of your estate plan. Although you may be happy with what a trust can do for you, don’t overlook other aspects of your estate plan, such as a power of attorney, that are just as important.
- Choosing the wrong person to administer your trust. This is no simple task, so you need to be careful about who you choose to take on this big responsibility.
These are just a few of the many mistakes people often make when creating a trust. As you get started, you should do whatever you can to avoid these mistakes.
When you make the right decisions today, you’ll feel much better about the future. A trust is a great estate planning tool, but only if it’s used in the appropriate manner. Don’t ever make a final decision until you are completely confident that you’re doing the right thing.
Source: FindLaw, “Ten Common Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid,” accessed Aug. 8, 2017