topic Re: Free Legal Advice in Community Chat

Free Legal Advice

lafelinevrais — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 01:36:31 GMT

My husband and I are considering putting our assets into a trust. We have heard many reasons in favor of doing this. Does anyone know what the down side of a trust would be? (other than the fact that it will cost about $8000.00 to do so) TIA

Re: Free Legal Advice

KYToby — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 01:53:31 GMT

Try seeking the advice of a fee-only financial advisor. A few hundred bucks to meet with one could save you a lot in the end.

Re: Free Legal Advice

minkbunny — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 01:59:54 GMT

Most attorneys will offer a free consultation and explain your options.

Re: Free Legal Advice

goodstuff — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 02:10:26 GMT

Why so pricey? We worked with a top attorney in our major city specializing in trusts and had ours drawn up a few years ago for under $2,000. Is your situation unusually complex, or do you live in an unusually expensive legal market?

Re: Free Legal Advice

Big Sister — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 03:40:28 GMT

A trust shouldn't cost $8,000. Call around for recommendations to estate planning attorneys.

Re: Free Legal Advice

Hooty — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 03:58:38 GMT

I worked in the Trust Dept. of a Bank for 10 years, if you have definitely got the money, I cannot think of a reason not to have a Trust. They do charge a fee, but they are actually taken from your assets unless otherwise stated.

Re: Free Legal Advice

madzonie — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 05:44:37 GMT

Our trust cost less than $1000 to set up. Maybe it might be more if you have a sizable amount of money. For us, it is the best way to deal with our estate.

Re: Free Legal Advice

sylviahomeatlast — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 06:00:17 GMT

free legal advice is worth the paper it's written on. See a trust attorney.

Re: Free Legal Advice

Financialgrl — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 16:46:00 GMT

The cost sounds pretty expensive - I paid $1300 ten years ago and my BF just paid $3000 and for that we each got the trust, pourover will, POA, and advance medical directive.

Only downside to a trust I encountered - if your home is in a trust, many lenders will not allow you to refi the loan unless you take home out of the trust, refi the loan and only then can you retitle the loan back into the name of your trust. Its doable but if you don't know how to do it or don't want to take the time, it may cost you to have this done. I was too lazy to do this years ago but 2 years ago I refi'd under the HARP program and because I was using my present lender they did it for me and included it all as part of the whole home closing.

Re: Free Legal Advice

millieshops — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 17:15:13 GMT

As you're deciding what to do, one of the questions to find an answer to would be "How will our estate be handled if we don't have a trust?" as well as "What would that procedure cost?"

If everything is in a will and goes to probate, there's a cost for that, too, so don't assume the $8000 is wasted money. One way or another, there's a procedure to be followed, and a consultation with an elder care attorney will give you your options and help you decide what works best for you - given who your beneficiaries will be, the size of your estate, etc.

It's a big step, so if you have an estate worth anywhere near $8000 to set up, you need to spend time and some money to do the set up. We can't tell you here what your estate should cost - you'd have to reveal far more than anyone on here should be telling.

Re: Free Legal Advice

JamicaJammer — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 00:22:27 GMT

$8,000???? YIKES! WAY too much for that!

I had my Revocable Trust set up in 1999, when my dh died, along with my Will, Medical Committee, and other documents.

I am the Trustee of my Trust, with my oldest son as the Trustee upon my demise.

Re: Free Legal Advice

rolen — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 01:24:53 GMT

The reason we went to a Living Trust is to avoid probate after our deaths. Probate can take a very long time and cost the heirs a huge amount of money.

I would suggest that you contact another attorney, however. The only reason for this procedure to cost $8000 would be if you were worth many, many millions of dollars and had all kinds of assets in all kinds of different accounts. If that does describe your situation - congratulations!

We had a rather expensive attorney do our work for us - he was recommended by one of our attorney children. We have a sizable estate. He did our Living Trust, Power of Attorneys, Medical Power of Attorney, and we even had one of the paralegals put our home in the living trust by going to the court house herself, etc. The total cost was around $2400 and was done within the past year. There were hourly fees for the attorney and various other costs. For $8000 I would want a very detailed explanation of why in the world it should cost so much.