How to Talk To Your Family About Your Living Trust

A living trust is an extremely useful estate planning tool that can help you ensure that your assets will be distributed according to your wishes when you pass on. There are many differences between a living trust and a will, but the biggest is that a living trust can avoid probate proceedings, therefore delivering the assets to your family quickly and easily. It is important that your family, particularly those that are intended beneficiaries, are aware of the living trust and what it is designed to do. Although talking about estate planning can sometimes be an uncomfortable conversation, it is very important and can help your entire family feel more comfortable about the state of your affairs. Here are some tips to help make the conversation easier.

Call a family meeting.

If you can, set a designated time to have a conversation about your living trust. This is usually much more efficient than trying to bring it up at the dinner table or during a family reunion, when people will be in the mood to socialize and may not want to talk about more serious matters such as this. By setting up a time to talk specifically about your estate planning, people will be able to focus on the task at hand.

Don’t get emotional.

The idea of your eventual passing will likely make members of your family uncomfortable, sad, or even angry. However, it will be difficult to have an efficient conversation about your assets and the management of your living trust if tensions start growing. Keep your tone even and steady, and start the conversation by assuring your family that this is just to prepare them and that it is not indicative of any illness or upcoming events. If you maintain a friendly, unemotional tone, your family will be more likely to mimic this.

Explain the difference between a trust and a will.

It is very important that your family understand the difference between a trust and a will. During this conversation, go in-depth about what a trust is, how it differs from a traditional will, and what your family can expect upon your passing. Ideally, they will get their assets much more quickly than they would with a will, and they will be distributed privately by a trustee instead of being made public. You may even want to have your trustee with you for this conversation to help discuss exactly what is going to happen and how it will affect your family.

Talk to your beneficiaries individually.

In addition to having a group meeting about your living trust, it may help to talk to each of your beneficiaries on their own so they know what they can expect from it. You may want to prepare them for the assets they are going to receive, and make sure they know who they should be communicating with about them. Talking to each of your beneficiaries also can reduce the element of surprise that can sometimes go along with asset distribution.

Although it can be a difficult subject to talk about, it’s important that everyone in your family is aware of your living trust and what will happen when it goes into effect. Ensuring that your family is on the same page about this important topic will help you rest easy knowing that everything will be managed properly. It will also help your family, because they won’t have to deal with any unwelcome surprises when the living trust does eventually go into effect. Transparency and open communication will help prevent conflict.