Kansas and Missouri Revocable Trusts
Kansas and Missouri Revocable Trusts
What is a trust?
A trust, often times known as either a “revocable trust”, a “living trust” (because your trust is created during your lifetime), or an “inter vivos trust” is an arrangement spelled out in a trust document wherein a person creates a trust, the creator often known as a “grantor” or a “settlor”, and then the creator of the trust transfers assets into the trust to be managed by a person called a trustee.
A trustee holds legal title to property for another person, called a beneficiary. In most cases, you, as the person that created the trust, will name yourself to be the trustee of your own living trust, keeping full control over all property held in trust.
These revocable living trusts are trusts you create while you’re alive, rather than one that is created at your death under the terms of your will, known as a “testamentary trust” because the trust is created after your death when your last will and “testament” is probated in either a Kansas or Missouri probate court.
The main advantage of making a living trust is to spare your family the expense and delay of probate court proceedings after your death. If you have a trust, after your die, your successor trustee has the legal authority to immediately manage your property (assets) held in the trust and to make distributions of your property to your named beneficiaries.
In instances where people die without a trust and the decedent either has a will or no will, the executor of a will in a testate estate or a living relative seeking to be appointed as the administrator of the decedent’s intestate estate must file a petition with the probate court to open up the probate estate, must publish notice of the estate administration in a local legal newspaper for 3 consecutive weeks and then appear in court for a hearing on the petition where the probate judge appoints an executor or administrator.
As you can see, the probate process can be a lengthy endeavor where it can take 4-5 weeks from the time the petition is filed with the probate court before an executor or administrator is appointed and has the same legal authority to manage a decedent’s probate assets that a trustee of a trust has immediately after the death of a grantor of a trust. The probate process can take months to administer from start to finish and all of the rules and procedures of the Kansas Probate Code or Missouri Probate Code must be followed under the supervision of the probate judge. Obviously, the costs of administering a probate estate can be significant, whereas, the costs of administering a trust can be minimal as a trust does not go through the probate court process.
If I execute a trust, do I still need a will?
Yes, you always need a will, especially if you have minor children as your will is the only legally binding document that is filed with the probate court wherein you nominate the person or persons to be the legal guardian(s) of your minor children.
A will provides a backup plan for any property that doesn’t make it into your trust. These wills are known as “pour over wills” because a pour over will allows your probate assets to be poured out of a probate estate into your trust where the terms and conditions of the trust will dictate to the trustee of your trust who is to receive your property and in what amounts.
For example, if you acquire new property or inherit property from parents or an aunt or uncle and you fail to transfer that newly acquired or inherited property to your trust before you die, that property won’t pass under the terms of the trust document. In such instances, if you have a pour over will, the pour over will identifies your trust as the sole beneficiary of your will. Meaning the property in your probate estate will be transferred to the trustee of your trust and the trust will determine how your estate plan is to be managed and distributed.
If you have a trust and don’t have a will, any property that isn’t transferred by your living trust or other method (such as joint tenancies, beneficiary designations or a payable on death (POD) or transfer on death (TOD) designation) will pass from your probate estate to your living heirs at law pursuant to the Kansas or Missouri intestate succession laws.
What is the trust creation process?
- Create the trust document, which says who will inherit trust property and names you as trustee
- Sign the document in front of a notary public
- Transfer your property, such as your house, your bank and investment accounts, insurance policies, etc., to yourself as trustee of your trust.
With nearly 20 years of estate planning experience, I have assisted hundreds of clients in preparing their revocable trust and pour over will estate plans. Because I am a solo practitioner, the legal fees my clients pay for their estate plans are less expensive than the fees often charged by larger law firms. It would be my honor and pleasure to assist you with your estate planning needs.
