The Benefits of Establishing a Revocable Living Trust for Avoiding Probate

One of the main advantages of a revocable living trust is its ability to help your estate avoid probate—the often lengthy and public court process of distributing a deceased person's assets. When you create a revocable living trust, you transfer ownership of your assets (like your home, bank accounts, or investments) into the trust while you're still alive. You retain full control over those assets as the trustee and can make changes or even dissolve the trust at any time. Upon your death, a successor trustee—someone you’ve named in advance—steps in to manage and distribute the trust assets directly to your beneficiaries, without court involvement.

Because the trust legally owns the assets, and you’ve already laid out clear instructions for how they should be handled, there's no need for a judge to oversee the process. This can save your loved ones time, legal fees, and the stress of navigating probate. It also keeps your affairs private, as probate proceedings are part of the public record, while trust distributions are handled discreetly. Overall, a revocable living trust can be a smart tool for ensuring a smoother, faster transition of your estate to the people you care about.

It’s important to note, however, that simply creating a revocable living trust isn’t enough—you must also fund the trust properly. This means retitling your assets in the name of the trust during your lifetime. Assets left out of the trust may still need to go through probate, undermining one of the trust’s biggest benefits. Working with an experienced estate planning attorney can help ensure everything is set up correctly, giving you and your loved ones greater peace of mind.

To set up your trust-based estate plan, call or email our office at (251) 716-8318 or kayla@baysidelawllc.com.