When you establish a living trust, you remain in full control of all of your property. You may amend or revoke a living trust at any time, for as long as you are alive and competent. Your living trust becomes irrevocable upon your death, and then protects what you leave your beneficiaries from creditors and predators.
In Texas, a living trust is the best way to name a person (your “Successor Trustee”) to help you with your finances, property management, and paperwork if you can no longer handle them yourself. In most cases, your living trust is much better suited for that purpose than a Durable Power of Attorney would be.
Moreover, your living trust means your loved ones can avoid having to administer your estate in probate. Texas probate is a court proceeding that appoints an Executor who inventories all of your assets after your death. The Executor then transfers title of your assets to your creditors and heirs. But the Executor must report in detail to the court – as he or she goes along – where every penny (literally) of your assets has gone. If you have ever served as an Executor — perhaps because a friend or family member died without having established a trust — you know firsthand that probate administration is not a job you should foist lightly on someone you know and love.
Read on to learn how a living trust with spendthrift trust provisions will help preserve and protect your hard-earned wealth for your surviving spouse and your descendants.