Living Will: What’s Your Purpose in Creating One

If an estranged couple decided to file for divorce, may it be through the usual way or by filing for divorce online, the purpose of which is pretty much clear. Creating a living will is also in the same boat. The one that made the will is giving instructions on how he wants to receive or not to receive any life-prolonging treatments when he falls in a coma on a terminal disease. Their purposes are clear.

Creating a trust, on the other hand, are made because of a number of reasons. For some families with rather large estates, they are creating trusts to take advantage of the privacy it provides. If the estate is divided through a will, it has to go through a probate court, thus, becoming public. The terms of a trust, on the other hand, are not subject to probate courts and can remain private.

One other purpose is to protect the assets from the beneficiaries that the settlor deems as unable to use the assets properly. This is often labeled as spendthrift protection. The settlor will create a living trust, with a corporation as the trustee, who will then disburse certain funds to the beneficiaries on conditions indicated in the trust document.

There are other purposes like for wills and estate planning, wherein a trust will be automatically created if the beneficiaries are still below the age limit indicated in the will. Some purposes are considered by some as bordering on unethical, even though they are technically legal. It’s called asset protection, wherein the asset of the settlor is included in the trust to prevent his creditors from going after those assets.

No matter what your purpose may be, if you have assets and children, you may want to think about setting up a living trust for them.