Own Property Out of State? Try a Living Trust to avoid “Ancillary Probates” in Other States

All to often I am asked by individuals what happens with their out of state property when they die. Maybe you own a vacation home in Colorado to go skiing, maybe you have rental property in New York as an investment – either way property in another state may cause headaches down the road in probate. Avoid these issues with a living trust, here is a quick summary of what they are. Learn more; ask seasoned Florida probate attorneys with experience in trust litigation.

Lets start with a basic story that hopefully sounds familiar to you. You work hard for many years and develop a diverse portfolio of investments, including property. Some of these properties are in your home state of Florida but several others are spread out throughout the country, even the world! What happens? Your local probate lawyer is only licensed in Florida, what about the Swiss ski chalet? What about the investment condos in Manhattan? These are expensive issues, that may add many zeros to your probate expenses, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

• After you die your assets are put into probate.
• This is usually done within the State you reside at a local courthouse.
•  A Personal Representative will be selected to collect and distribute your assets.
•  A will is just instructions on how to distribute the property.
• Absent a will certain default rules are used; this is what is referred to as intestacy.
• If you own property outside of the State you reside, an “ancillary probate” will be set up within that State.

One way to avoid the costs of this “ancillary probate” which may require an additional lawyer from the other state(s) is to create a living trust. In simple terms a living trust is a trust set up by you to hold the property as trustee. Upon your death a new trustee will be assigned through the trust’s charter and thus probate can be avoided. These are sometimes also referred to, as inter-vivos trusts.

Inter-vivos or living trusts are made while you are still alive thus the name. This is different from testamentary trusts which are formed by a last will and testament. Testamentary trusts do not have the time and money saving feature of completely skipping probate.

Saving time and money is just one of the few great features of a properly planned and executed estate plan that utilizes estates in a strategic effective manner. Avoid ancillary probate today!