A revocable trust offers the grantor a number of incredible benefits and opportunities. In 2011, the estate tax will increase to 55 percent on everything over the first million dollars. A million dollars may sound like a large amount of money, but it’s actually quite small when you consider that you include proceeds from life insurance, the equity in your home, stocks, bank accounts, retirement accounts, jewelry, paintings, and any anything else you want. may have had a title to his name at the time of his death. This tax has broke families.

By using a revocable trust as the centerpiece of a foundational estate plan, we can double the federal estate tax coupon amount from $1 million to $2 million, saving your beneficiaries $550,000.

Beyond estate tax protection, distributing assets through a revocable trust will avoid probate altogether. Probate is the process of bringing together all assets that are titled in the sole name of the deceased. These assets can include houses, cars, bank accounts, and even life insurance policies or retirement funds. Many people believe that having a will prevents probate, but probate will be necessary whether or not the decedent left a will.

Probate of an estate will generally cost between four and seven percent of the value of the entire estate and can tie up your assets for six to eighteen months, without any kind of dispute or challenge. In addition, the succession process is made public and airs the dirty laundry of your family for all your community to see.

A third benefit of using a revocable trust is the ability to control your assets long after you’re gone. In Florida, a person can retain control of his estate for up to 360 years after his death. We typically write trusts to control assets until the grandchildren reach a certain age or achieve a certain goal. The limitation of access is not always decided by the age of the beneficiaries. Sometimes it is necessary to protect a child from his own bad financial tendencies. Sometimes it is necessary to make accommodations for a child who receives financial assistance from the government through the creation of a special needs trust. For any and all considerations and concerns, a revocable trust will allow her to distribute her assets in the way that best suits her life and the people she loves.

Another benefit of using a revocable trust is the automatic asset protection it can provide to your beneficiaries. When your assets are distributed through a will, the beneficiaries accept the assets directly without protection. A bad divorce, car accident, lawsuit, or even existing creditors can take those assets away from your beneficiaries. However, when you distribute your assets through a revocable trust, your beneficiaries will receive the assets in trust. They will have as much access to assets as you want to give them, but those assets will be protected from creditors, litigation, divorce, or any other financial threat your beneficiaries may face.

There are an endless number of reasons to make a revocable trust the centerpiece of your comprehensive estate plan. If you have more than $75,000 in assets, a revocable trust is a virtual necessity. For more information on revocable trusts, contact your South Florida estate planning and asset protection attorneys. Trusts are very complex documents and should never be attempted without the guidance of a legal professional who specializes in such matters.