{"id":2863,"date":"2012-03-11T13:32:17","date_gmt":"2012-03-11T20:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/?p=2863"},"modified":"2012-03-11T13:32:17","modified_gmt":"2012-03-11T20:32:17","slug":"wills-vs-trusts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wills-vs-trusts\/","title":{"rendered":"Wills vs Trusts &#8211; Which Is Better For Your Family?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Is seems like the most common question I receive as a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/firm-overview\/our-team\/\" target=\"_blank\">Grand Rapids, Mi estate planning attorney<\/a> &#8211; what is the difference between wills and trusts? \u00a0Does my family need a will or a trust?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Well, as you might expect, the answer to the second question is different for every family. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because no two families (or individuals) are the same. \u00a0Oh, sure, there are plenty of attorneys out there who will look at your family&#8217;s assets and <em>tell <\/em>you what you should have. \u00a0That approach doesn&#8217;t sit well with me. \u00a0I think it&#8217;s best to share with you some of the advantages and disadvantages of wills and trusts, and let <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/unique-estate-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\">you determine what is best for your family<\/a> based on who you are and what&#8217;s important to you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So, here are some examples of how wills and trusts differ on a few key considerations:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Privacy:<\/strong><em>Wills<\/em> &#8211; with a Will there is no privacy. \u00a0Documents and proceedings after death are public record. \u00a0<em>Trusts<\/em> &#8211; totally private, unless court intervention is required, which is usually a result of poor drafting, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/funding-trust\/\" target=\"_blank\">lack of funding<\/a>, or loss of Trustee.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Disability Planning:<\/strong><em>Wills<\/em> &#8211; no provisions for physical or mental disability. \u00a0The disabled person is subject to the court process for guardianship. Need a power of attorney, updated over the years. A power of attorney can provide that disability be determined privately by family members and friends. \u00a0<em>Trusts &#8211;\u00a0<\/em>Handles assets upon disability\u00a0without court intervention. \u00a0Need a power of attorney for\u00a0non-trust assets. A trust can\u00a0provide that disability be\u00a0determined privately by family\u00a0members and friends.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Creditor\/Predator Protection:<\/strong><em>Wills<\/em>\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0None while alive. Testamentary\u00a0trusts can give protection. \u00a0<em>Trusts<\/em>\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0None while alive. Creditors\u00a0have only a specified amount of\u00a0time to present claims after\u00a0death or they are forever\u00a0barred. Trusts which become\u00a0irrevocable at death can give\u00a0protection.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Effort Required:<\/strong><em>Wills<\/em>\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0Less effort now unless you\u00a0require tax planning and asset\u00a0protection for your heirs, but\u00a0more work for your heirs after\u00a0disability or death. \u00a0<em>Trusts<\/em>\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0More effort now to properly\u00a0design the trust to accomplish\u00a0all of your goals upon disability\u00a0and after death, but far less\u00a0work for your heirs after\u00a0disability or death if done correctly.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Cost Now:<\/strong><em>Wills<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; less. \u00a0<em>Trusts<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; more.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Costs to Amend:<\/strong><em>Wills\u00a0and Trusts<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; similar.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Cost Later:<\/strong><em>Wills<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; average all-inclusive cost of a probate in Michigan is 3-5% of the value of the estate. \u00a0<em>Trusts<\/em>\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0No probate fees if the\u00a0trust has been fully funded and\u00a0properly maintained and trust\u00a0administration fees less than\u00a0estate administration fees.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In a future post we&#8217;ll look at how wills and trusts compare on common family goals. \u00a0Make sure to contact us at 616-827-7596 if you have any questions and to schedule a Peace of Mind Planning Session to see how wills and trusts compare in your family&#8217;s specific situation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><a href=\"..\/index.php\/firm-overview\/our-team\/\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Lichterman<\/a>\u00a0is an estate planning and business planning attorney who helps families and business owners create a lasting legacy by planning for their\u00a0<a href=\"..\/index.php\/estate-planning\/your-family-legacy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Whole Family Wealth\u2122<\/a>.\u00a0 This goes beyond merely planning for finances &#8211; it&#8217;s about who your are and what&#8217;s important to you.\u00a0 He focuses on estate and asset protection planning for\u00a0 the &#8220;experienced&#8221; generation, the &#8220;sandwich generation&#8221; (caring for parents and children), doctors\/physicians, nurses, lawyers, dentists, professionals with minor children, family owned businesses and pet planning.\u00a0 He takes the &#8220;counselor&#8221; part of attorney and counselor at law very seriously, and enjoys creating life long relationships with his clients &#8211; many of which have become great friends.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is seems like the most common question I receive as a Grand Rapids, Mi estate planning attorney &#8211; what is the difference between wills and trusts? \u00a0Does my family need a will or a trust? Well, as you might expect, the answer to the second question is different for every family. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because no two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[16,30,143,38,35,75],"class_list":["post-2863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-estate-planning","tag-grand-rapids-estate-planning","tag-grand-rapids-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-grand-rapids-mi-wills-and-trusts-attorney","tag-grand-rapids-michigan-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-grand-rapids-trusts-lawyer","tag-wills-and-trusts-attorney-grand-rapids-michigan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2863"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2877,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2863\/revisions\/2877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}