Is a Revocable Trust for You

While not everyone’s situation renders a Revocable Trust necessary, when considering how to go about your estate planning, it is important to know that there are certain advantages to having a Revocable Trust as opposed to a simple Will. The following are just a few of those advantages:

Save time and money by eliminating the need for Court Intervention. A Revocable Trust does not need to be probated and the division of assets can begin immediately after the death of the decedent. This is not so with a Will. With a Last Will & Testament, the named Executor has to submit the Will for probate in the Surrogates Court of the county in which the decedent was residing. The Executor then has to pay the court and attorney’s fees associated with the probate process. The Executor also has to wait the requisite amount of time before he or she can distribute the estate assets. According to the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law Section 11-1.5, an Executor is required to wait at least 7 months after the issuance of Letters Testamentary before distributing assets to the beneficiaries, in order to allow creditors to come forward and make a claim against the estate.

Letters Testamentary is a document issued by the Surrogates Court, which gives the Executor the legal authority to take control of the decedent’s estate. It could take 2 to 3 months just to get Letters issued. Therefore, it is safe to say that an Executor may not be able to distribute assets until 9 months or more after the death of a loved one. This waiting period may increase, should the Will be contested or if the decedent had a large estate.

Provides Privacy. A Last Will & Testament is submitted to the Surrogates Court and then becomes a matter of public record. However, since a Trust does not need to be submitted or filed with any court, in order to be administered, the grantor (creator) of that trust is allowed to keep his/her assets and how they are to be distributed private.

Avoids Multiple Probate Proceedings. If you reside in one state and own property in another, upon your passing, your family would not only need to probate your Will in the state in which you lived but they also will have to do an ancillary proceeding in the state in which you owned property. This additional proceeding would increase the time and expense of the probate process, all of which would have to be borne by your family members.

Save on Estate Taxes. Currently, the Federal Estate tax exemption is $12.06 million and the New York Estate tax exemption is $6.1 million. With the use of disclaimer or credit shelter trust language in a Revocable Trust, a grantor can benefit from tax planning and reduce or eliminate state and federal estate taxes.

Incapacity Planning. When a person becomes incapacitated their family members may need to go to court, and commence a guardianship proceeding, in order to handle the incapacitated person’s affairs. With a Revocable Trust this would not be necessary. The grantor is the initial trustee until the grantor becomes incapacitated, at which point a successor trustee takes over and handles the grantor’s assets on his/her behalf thereby eliminating the time and expense associated with a guardianship proceeding.

Create a Special Needs Trust or a Trust for a Minor. A Revocable Trust can include Special Needs Trust language, whereby upon a grantor’s death a Special Needs Trust will be created and the money that is meant for a loved one with special needs will be placed into it. The money for that beneficiary will be used to supplement any government benefits that the beneficiary is receiving. It will not supplant those benefits and will therefore not make the beneficiary ineligible to continue receiving those government benefits.

Additionally, a Revocable Trust can include a Contingency Trust which would hold any money that is to be received by a beneficiary, who is a minor. The money is held in trust for that minor’s health, maintenance, support and education. The trust would end when the minor reaches an age of the grantor’s choosing. At that time the full amount of the funds would go to the beneficiary.

Regardless of which estate planning tool is best for you, Mavros Panagos Law is here to assist. For a trustworthy and reliable estate planning attorney call 516-447-0455 or visit

www.mavrospanagoslaw.com and request a free consultation.

Contact Us

Eleni Mavros Panagos, Esq.

Mavros Panagos Law

200 Broadhollow Road, Ste. 207

Melville, NY 11747

(516) 447-0455

info@mavrospanagoslaw.com