Living Trust for a Married Couple (LA)
This interactive legal document enables you to generate a joint Living Trust for a married person. Much like a will, a living trust lets you leave your property to the people you want to inherit it. Also like a will, you and your spouse can revoke or change your living trust at any time, for any reason, before you die. The big difference is that assets left in trust don't have to go through probate court proceedings at your death. This is because when you create a living trust, you must transfer ownership of the designated property to yourselves as "trustees" of the trust. During your lifetimes, you still have control over all the property transferred to your living trust and can do what you want with it: sell it, spend it, or give it away. Then, after the death of the survivor of you, the person you named to take over as trustee distributes the property to the family and friends you named.
This form allows you and your spouse to contribute property to a trust for your joint benefit during your lives. Upon the death of one of you, the surviving spouse will continue to be the beneficiary and trustee of for the remainder of their life, with the ability to revoke or amend the trust. Upon the death of the surviving spouse, the trust becomes irrevocable and the person you name as successor trustee will take over and distribute the trust property as you provide in the document.
This trust is not designed for use if you wish to address the issues of estate taxes or long-term care. This is a simple trust to help you avoid probate. If your assets exceed the state or federal estate tax exemption amount, or you are concerned about long term care, you should consult an attorney.