An American Advisory Group’s survey found that 55% of homeowner participants paid off their mortgages. More than 60% of the respondents also had an emotional attachment to their properties. If your home offers comfort and value, and you wish to continue residing in it, you may consider adding it to a trust.
As reported by Better Homes & Gardens, a living trust may give you greater control over the future of your home. Your trust may preserve it both during your lifetime and after you die. Homeowners often create a trust so that their heirs may avoid the lengthy probate process.
How does a living trust work to preserve my home?
Creating a living trust provides legal documents that include instructions for a trustee to distribute your property. Unlike a will, a trust does not require you to leave an asset to an heir. You may add your home to a trust and describe how you want it managed by your chosen trustee.
Your trust’s instructions may specify who could live in your home while you are alive and who could live there after you die. You could also leave instructions concerning when your trustee could sell your home and what he or she may do with the proceeds.
How may a living trust help my heirs?
After setting up your living trust, you may transfer your property to it by retitling the deed. Unlike a will, you need not worry about someone contesting a trust, and it also bypasses probate. You may, in addition, retitle other assets such as stocks and collectibles.
More than 70% of seniors surveyed claimed the investment they appreciated most came from buying their homes. Protecting your valuable property may include creating a trust with instructions on how to manage it now and in the future.