Estate Planning as a Career

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When planning your estate,what costs more, a will or a trust? Since an attorney
can prepare an average will for $400 to $500 and set up an average trust for
about $2,000 to $2,500, your decision is made, right?

But wait, there is more to it! You don’t have to be a CPA to figure that it
costs five times more to set up the average trust than the average will. The
key words here are set up. The prices I just quoted are for exactly
thatsetting up your will or trust. Those up-front costs dont include the
cost of administering your wishes after your death.

Probate Fees Please Attorneys

When you die, what does it cost to carry out your
carefully laid plans? Many people believe its simply the cost to create the
document that plans their estate: their will or trust. If your attorney draws
up a will for you, it may cost $400. However, upon your death, your estate goes
through the probate process.

The fees for settling your estate could
easily reach $10,000 (the average cost of probate). Now the total cost of
settling your estate isnt $400its a whopping $10,400. This explains
why a will is one of the most expensive legal documents in this country and why many attorneys prefer to draft a simple will rather than spend the time and effort creating and funding a trust.

No Court or Attorneys Required With A Trust

Remember that the average trust costs $2,000 to $2,500
to set up, but theres no probate. A trust eliminates the total cost of
probate and that potential $10,000 probate fee.

Your successor trustee has the immediate right to distribute your property according to the plan
described in your trust. He doesnt have to go to a court or even hire an
attorney to settle the estate.

Your successor trustee might feel unsure about how to
distribute your property according to your trust and want to have some counsel
and advice. Often, the successor trustee will go to an attorney to review the
trust document and learn how to proceed.

Lets assume this happens. The attorney visits with the successor trustee and may prepare some transfer
documents. The attorney charges a few hundred dollars for this service. (The
average fee to review and help settle an estate with a trust is about $500.)

Now the total cost of your estate plan is $2,500. Compare this to using a will
for your estate plan, which would cost $10,400. Again, it doesnt take a CPA to figure
out that a will actually costs four times more than a trust!

Most Likely to Be Contested, High Costs to Settle

Remember, of all legal documents, a will is the most likely to be contested. A will is also
one of the most expensive legal documents because of the total costs to settle
an estate. Make the most of your estate planning time and dollars, create a revocable living trust.

Copyright 2007, Legal Awareness Series, LLC

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 at 1:17 pm and is filed under , Estates, Wills, Trusts, Career Information, Blog Carnival. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.