If you do not have a lot of experience in the real estate business, it may not occur to you that there are several different ways to own a property other than just as an individual. A trust lawyer from Longmont may be able to help you with putting your property into an estate or a trust, but it is possible that you may not be sure what that even means. There could be a few advantages of owning your property this way, especially if you have family to think about.
One benefit of this kind of property ownership is that it can help you determine how your assets are distributed after you die. These types of decisions are usually included in the wording of the document that your lawyer will help you draw up when you change the ownership of your property. This allows your heirs to get the assets distributed more efficiently, and it could even cost less for them and avoid some of the delays that they may experience if they simply went off of a will or a probate. Lastly, there is less likely to be a lawsuit involved in the property is willed to someone this way, as regular wills are often contested.
Another advantage to a trust is that there should be less in estate or gift taxes being imposed upon your heirs once you pass away. When the property is owned by an individual and willed over to heirs, there could be a surprising amount of the assets being taxed and it could actually be more of a struggle for your loved ones to take possession of the property.
Another great advantage of doing it this way is that you can name successor trustees. These are people that can take over and sign on behalf of the trust in the event that you die or become incapacitated. In the event that the family will want to sell your property once you are no longer using it, this could be a lot easier than opening a probate or simply leaving a will, because they will officially just be able to sign on your behalf with a lot less paperwork involved. It could even reduce the need for a power of attorney in the event that you are still alive but cannot manage your assets by yourself.
There are plenty of different ways to go about property ownership and estate planning, and not every solution works best for every person. However, if you know who you want your assets to go to once you pass on and you want to give those people easier access in the event that something happens to you, you may consider hiring a trust lawyer to help you.