Living Trusts: A Comprehensive Guide for Oklahoma Residents
Hi, I’m Oklahoma City attorney Meg Prestidge and today I want to talk to you about creating a living revocable trust. A living revocable trust is created by you and generally your spouse to make sure that your assets are distributed in accordance with your wishes and distributed even during your lifetime, perhaps, or especially distributed at your death. But the idea behind a revocable living trust is to avoid probate.
So what do we need to create a trust in Oklahoma, a living trust? One of the things you’ll need to do is meet with your attorney, and you’ll want to bring with them the names of the beneficiaries, your beneficiaries. Some attorneys don’t ask, but in our firm, we do. We like to have their dates of birth, as that establishes identity for them. There’s a lot of Stephen Smiths in the world.
Choosing Beneficiaries and Trustees
The other thing is we want to make sure that they’re not minors during the time that you are preparing your living trust, because if there are, we’ll want to make provisions for minors should you, in the event of your untimely death. So you name your beneficiaries, and then you can choose who receives what. To me, that’s the absolute beauty of a trust.
In the lifetime of the trust, it’s just as if you own that asset individually, and you can change and amend it to your heart’s desire. You can add assets, take away assets. The whole key is to make sure when you buy and purchase either a vehicle or property or other items that you make sure they’re titled in the name of your trust. That’s very important; otherwise, that asset may have to go through probate.
Ensuring Validity and Trustworthiness
You also select a trustee. Generally, the trustee is you and your spouse or you if it’s you individually. It’s rare that somebody initially names someone other than themselves, but you want to make sure that whoever you choose as your trustee or trustees is trustworthy. In other words, they understand that all of the assets owned by that trust are trust assets until your passing or the second if there’s a husband or wife, the second of you to pass.
All of those assets are yours, and they’re not to be used for the benefit of the children or other beneficiaries that you’ve named. You will want to make sure that the trust is in the form accepted by Oklahoma. It’ll need to be properly executed and witnessed in order for it to be valid.
Get Expert Guidance Today
If you’d like to discuss creating your living will and trust, just give a trust lawyer in Oklahoma City a call at 405-888-5400 for a low-cost consultation. I’m here to help you secure your assets and ensure your wishes are carried out.
