Copying a Living Trust for parents

[KevinTheRookie]

I have a living trust for myself and my wife. My parents cannot afford to have one professionally prepared. Can I just take my trust and scan it, make changes to the trustees, power of Attorney, Living Will, etc, and then have it notarized and witnessed signed and use that?

 

[Taxguy]

>>Can I just take my trust and scan it, make changes to the trustees, power of Attorney, Living Will, etc, and then have it notarized and witnessed signed and use that? <<

You can,...but then you will have no idea of the effect and ramifications on your parents. Its not a pair of socks, where 1 size fits all.

 

[KevinTheRookie]

Hi Taxguy - thanks for responding.
I didn't mean to suggest that I would do this without my parents highly involved. My trust was written very clearly without a lot of legal talk. It was designed so that we can pick it up, read it, and know what to do without a lawyer, although we'd be foolish to not seek the assistance of one at the time of a death. Anyway, the trust would be the same for the most part, just change who the trustees and how it gets divided between me and my brother. There are no kids, grandkids, and it's a small estate - under 300,000. I would just do the trust to avoid probate and to update their living will and power of attorney - now that I'm old enough (29).

 

[ELNbluemax2]

You do not need a Trust to "just avoid Probate". If you have beneficiaries on all your assets, or make your CD's Payable on Death acc'ts (POD), you don't need a Trust. Don't believe all the "hype" you hear at those seminars.
Wanda