Do I Need a Will or a Trust? - YouTube

Hi this is Lee Phillips.

I want to talk to you for a minute about the question

Do I need a will or a living revocable trust?

and this is something that I've dealt with for a long time.

I've done trusts for years and years

well more like decades

but

I can't answer the question for you.

If you have property,

real property: bank account, car, brokerage account,

then you probably need the living revocable trust.

Mom and dad probably need the living revocable trust.

If there really isn't much property,

then we don't have to worry about the living revocable trust

use a will.

A young couple who are going to school

they have basically nothing

but they have a kid

the kid needs a guardian appointed in a will

and it's a disaster---I've got other YouTubes on how to appoint guardians

but the guardian has got to be there

and it's named in the will

that guy is named in the will.

So even a young couple

who doesn't have any assets to speak of

they need the will to protect their children.

So they have different functions--the will and the trust

the will names the guardian

names the personal representative

and it can divide up the property

say who gets what after the person dies.

But you got to remember

a will is always going to be probated.

The will has no legal teeth to it

until it goes through the probate process.

On the other hand, the living revocable trust

if you manage it properly

and I've got lots of YouTubes on how to manage your trust

or what to do with trusts.

If the trust owns the property

then you will not go through the probate process.

So if there's property involved then you probably want the trust

because you don't want to have to go through the probate process.

And in fact you're gonna say, "Well, do I have enough money to have the trust?"

It really isn't a matter of money.

My dad the other day came to me

and I've done everything I can for my dad

and he says, "Look.

I figured out I've got this bank account

this credit union account

that I set up 45 years ago with mom.

It's got $250 in it.

We left enough money in it to keep it open."

And I'm going, oh my gosh.

It was in his name.

I said, "Dad go down, close the account, and get the 250 bucks, get it out of there."

Because if he dies,

it's gonna cost me more than $250

to go get that account.

I'll just leave the account.

So it really isn't a matter of how much money's in the account.

The question is

is it worth going through the probate process to get it out

or would you rather have it in the living revocable trust

and just have it go instantly

without any probate process.

So

primary question, what do I have

not how much, but what

and if that what is gonna have to have a probate proceeding

then I probably want the trust.

Mom's dying

she's older

the house has been sold she's living in the rest home

she's got a bank account the daughters name is on it as joint tenant

that's a mistake

we talk about that in other YouTubes

but in this case I'll let you have it, okay?

Mom doesn't have anything to probate

she doesn't need a living revocable trust

she may not even need a will in that case

unless there's something that she needs to "send to the kids"

and by the way it's always not the money

it's the dollies and the doilies in the treadle sewing machine

that's where the fight is

and I can get rid of those easier

in the trust than I can the will

in most states

some states have have given us permission

to make out lists within the will

and then append them to the will

some states haven't

so depends on which state you're in if that's a possibility

but in a trust I can always list those things out very easily

and we can send them where we want them.

So trust or will?

I don't know.

You're gonna have to decide

and it's primarily what's the probate potential

of the individual that I'm looking at.

This is Lee Phillips trying to answer the question,

Do I need a will or a living revocable trust?