Hey can someone explain what a living trust is? is it the same as a will?
My dad died in November 2019, so I just went through all this with my sister. Well, still going through the through the ramifications of a living trust compared to a will.
A living trust is almost like a business that represents whoever died. If you have a living trust, it is activated as soon as you die. You can put whoever you want in charge of your living trust. So I'll just use what my dad did. He had a living trust written that explicitly and clearly stated myself and my sister as co-executors to the trust, 50% each.
In the trust, he clearly and explicitly said that everything he owns, all bank accounts and everything in his name goes to the trust.
If you said "I want all my shoes to go to my cousin", that would be a will. A will is your desire on specific things that you want done. A trust is simply "Everything in my name goes to my trust, and these are the executors in charge of that trust", and then you name them. It's really stupid to me, but there are companies that will not deal with individuals after someone's death. They will only deal with that person's trust.
My sister and I obviously sold my dad's house after he died, and the escrow company that represented the sale of the house would not release the funds to me and my sister. They would only release it to my dad's trust. Now, my sister and I have power over the trust, so them releasing the money to his trust essentially got the money to me and my sister. It seems like an unnecessary step to me, but I'm told it's way easier this way when it comes to the law after someone dies.
-foe
