Estate Planning | The Great Debate: Wills versus Trusts?

Choosing between a Will or a Trust is not always an easy decision.  Many factors come into play and, ultimately, you can’t go wrong as long as you choose one or the other.

As an attorney, my recommendations is that all estate planning is a good thing. It means that you are thinking about a difficult issues that are often not terribly exciting.  Lawyers understand that there are other things people want to focus on other than their estate. However, if you are seriously considering whether you need a Will or Trust for your retirement or estate planning, that means you are taking a step in the right direction.

A recent article in the Evening Tribune focuses on whether to utilize a revocable living trust for your estate planning or whether a simple Will suffices.  Or, perhaps you may want a pour-over-will with a revocable living trust?  Attorney Patrick Roth will be answering questions about estate planning.

The article points out common retirement and estate planning questions that many people have.  These question include:

How can a Revocable Living Trust based estate plan help protect you and secure your family’s future?
Do you know the unknown truths about planning with a Revocable Living Trust?
Discover the 16 situations in which a Trust can have legal advantages over a Will.
Learn the truth about the hidden costs of a Will based estate plan that no one talks about.

I have tried to answer many of these questions in this blog.  In particular, I have discussed the common benefits and drawback between choosing a Trust or a Will for your estate planning.  However, there are many questions that cannot be answered by a simple article or blog post.  Every person’s situation is different.

For instance, some people are younger and their financial situation looks much different than an older person or couple with a much larger estate.  My legal advice to the younger couple would be much different than that of the older couple.  Whatever your situation, it is important to speak with a licensed Minnesota estate planning attorney when you consider whether to utilize a Will or Trust.

Please contact Joseph M. Flanders of Flanderslawfirm.com for more information.