Officials: Don't buy a living trust without a lawyer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin agency says consumers should use a qualified attorney to protect their interests when purchasing living trusts.
Living trusts help consumers administer their assets and transfer them to designated beneficiaries when they die.
The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions says living trusts are legal documents that should be developed and reviewed by licensed estate planning attorneys.
The department has received two consumer complaints this week involving an Eau Claire company selling living trusts. It has found no wrongdoing of the company.
Department spokesman George Althoff says senior residents and farmers are primary targets of living trust sales.
Mar 23, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.
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Really? I suppose he could stay in Maggie's room.
Mar 22, 2013 at 8:58 p.m.
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And they don't protect you from being sued or the dreaded 5 year medicaid look back.
Mar 22, 2013 at 8:53 p.m.
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There are two issues here. The first is that MOST people don't have sufficient assets to make a living trust worthwhile, so it's a somewhat predatory practice. The second is that without a lawyer, those people for whom the living trust IS the expression of their intentions (farmers probably qualify) may, after their deaths, have that expression pierced or overturned by legal challenges from excluded/limited heirs.
http://www.aarp.org/money/estate-plannin...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/reales...
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Finally, there's a perception of lower costs versus probate, but that's often not true.
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