Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers the question about what minimum amount of assets are needed in order to form a Revocable Living Trust in Wisconsin and discusses some of the common reasons people use Revocable Living Trusts as part of their estate plans.
Transcript of Video: What is the Minimum Amount of Assets Needed to Form a Trust in Wisconsin?
Today's question what is the minimum
assets required to form a revocable
living trust this is a question I get
asked all the time clients come to me
and they wonder how much money do I need
to have before I can form a trust the
answer is there's no minimum amount
assets need to form a trust there's many
good reasons to form a trust some having
to do with the estate and tax planning
others having to do with probate
avoidance and avoidance of guardianship
that have little to do with the amount
of asset however in general in Wisconsin
if you have over $50,000 in probate
assets meaning assets that would
otherwise pass under a will and go
through the probate court system a trust
can benefit you because a trusts putting
the assets in the trust can bypass
probate a will alone will not allow you
to opt out a probate properly funded as
it's held in a trust and assets which
will not pass through probate can bypass
probate completely and again in
Wisconsin anything above $50,000 has to
go through the probate process there's a
simplified process for very small assets
and accounts below 50,000 but for many
people if you own real estate and it's
worth more than $50,000 that asset is
going to have to go through probate a
at death unless you have it held in some
other form of title or in a properly
funded trust
so to recap there's no minimum level of
assets you need for a trust but that
$50,000 of probate assets when you get to
that level it's a good reason to look at
a trust to bypass probate and ease the
administration of your state after your
death. Great question and thank you for
asking!
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Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
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