Do You Need a Revocable Living Trust?

Key Takeaways

• A revocable living trust is an estate planning tool that allows you to transfer ownership of assets a designated trustee for the benefit of your beneficiaries.
• Given the complexity of living trusts, you should use a lawyer when implementing a trust to avoid very costly mistakes.
• Living trusts can be quite costly and may even be unnecessary, given the average person’s estate size compared to the inheritance tax exemption, so consult with a lawyer first about whether you need one at all.
• The Virginia intestate laws may already follow the line of inheritance you had in mind when planning your estate. Considering how common that is, always discuss whether or not you need a living trust with a lawyer first.
• Few of us “need” a trust.

To establish a revocable living trust, you should consult with a lawyer to avoid major and costly mistakes. These mistakes could not only compromise the functionality of your trust but could also lead to severe financial losses down the line. However, if you want to eliminate that risk entirely, you may want to consider whether or not you need a living trust in the first place.

Getting a living trust can be a way to control or delay distribution of estate assets to beneficiaries, some of whom might be unintentionally omitted without some kind of legal document specifying them. This is especially true in blended families and for individuals without a spouse or children. However, a living trust may not be the most efficient method. We understand how frustrating it can be to navigate this legal process, but Virginia Beach Law Group is here to help. Our team can guide you through the estate planning process and get your plans in place, even if they don’t involve a living trust.

“If you need Wills & Estate Planning in Virginia, I highly recommend this law firm. They are compassionate and extremely thorough.”— Sarah K.

What is a Revocable Living Trust in Virginia?

A revocable living trust is an estate planning tool, created with a legal document that allows you to designate or transfer ownership of your assets to a trustee for purposes of estate planning. In a living trust, the person who creates the trust is his/her own initial trustee. These assets are then controlled by a designated trustee who will be responsible for distributing the assets at the time of your choosing (often stated as the time of your death but not necessarily). The grantor in a trust is the person creating the document, while the beneficiaries are the people receiving the assets in the trust account at the proper time.

Living trusts are almost always revocable. You can change your revocable trust at any time after it goes into effect up until your death – then it becomes irrevocable. An irrevocable trust cannot be changed or canceled at all. While this may seem like an inflexible scenario, it can be beneficial in some cases where you want to protect your assets from increasing estate taxes and creditors. The most common use for an irrevocable trust (irrevocable right from the start) is for it to hold a life insurance policy on the life of the person who created it – the purpose of the life insurance policy is to source funds needed in a situation where the value of the estate exposes it to inheritance tax. While you cannot make changes to an irrevocable trust, no one else can either. That includes creditors and the IRS.

Do You Need a Lawyer to Make a Living Trust in Virginia?

You do need a lawyer to make a living trust in Virginia if you want to make sure you avoid mistakes that could be very costly in the future. Strictly speaking, you do not need a lawyer to submit the necessary documents. The lawyer is there to prevent mistakes and ensure the trust accurately conveys what you want.

Some common mistakes on DIY documents involve incorrect signatures. There are a considerable number of signature blocks in legal documents, and not getting the right people to sign the document per the legal requirements can cause the whole document to be invalid. There are many ways to do it wrong and only one way to do it right. Hiring a Virginia Beach Law Group attorney is the best way to prevent the high-risk mistakes that could come with a layperson trying to handle it all themselves.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Living Trusts

Benefits of Having a Living Trust

Living trusts do have their uses if you meet specific circumstances. Essentially, a living trust is a useful albeit complicated way to substitute for a will if your estate is worth more than $13.99 million. That is the sum in 2025 that will be excluded from inheritance tax. Using a living trust instead of a will, you and your spouse can divide your collective assets in half through trusts to avoid inheritance taxes, if you would be leaving an estate worth more than $13.99 million, and you can EACH leave up to $13.99 million (if you have that much).

Another scenario in which you will benefit from a trust is if you have a blended family with adult children from previous relationships. With a living trust, someone can specify which part of their assets will go to their children of a prior marriage. This is important when the new spouse has children from a previous marriage. A living trust makes the line of inheritance easier to manage in those special circumstances.

A third good reason to create a trust is if you have a special needs child. A special needs trust allows a parent or other loved one to create a trust that will hold a bequest or gift for the special needs beneficiary without disqualifying the beneficiary for public benefits like SSI and Medicaid. Of course, this can get complicated quickly, so you should consult with a lawyer first.

Reasons Not to Make a Living Trust

In most cases, a living trust is not necessary, so it could be best to avoid it altogether. For the vast majority of people considering their estate sizes and family situation, the cost of having a living trust prepared does not justify any perceived benefit except you can boast to your friends that you’ve got a trust (and that is the WRONG reason to create a trust). Specifically, a living trust is often an unnecessarily expensive and cumbersome alternative compared to what could be accomplished with a Simple Will. It is common for the cost of having a trust prepared to exceed the cost of the probate tax the grantor thinks a trust would help his beneficiaries avoid – which makes no economic sense at all. Further, many times, probate can be avoided for free in Virginia – having a trust is not the only way to avoid probate.

When you die, your living trust becomes irrevocable, is required to obtain its own social security number, and keeps right on paying income taxes.

Additionally, a trustee is permitted to pay themselves annually for the work involved in managing your trust and your beneficiaries. On the other hand, the executor of a decedent’s Will gets to pay themselves once.

Living trusts are known for being notoriously complicated, which is why the average person will almost always need a lawyer to avoid mistakes. Considering how unnecessary it is for most people; a living trust will make estate planning and estate administration much more difficult. This can be incredibly overwhelming, especially for trustees to deal with after the grantor passes away.

We have seen cases where people have spent thousands of dollars setting up a living trust only to find out it was not set up correctly or contained provisions that loved ones refuse to believe that were intended or understood by the person who has passed. Due to the mistakes, all that money was used to establish a legal document that does not even accurately convey their wishes. This, of course, makes fixing the issue even more costly and time-consuming. We have worked with trusts countless times, and even we recommend avoiding them entirely when you can. Our team will work with you to determine what option is best for your estate planning needs.

Why Clients Trust Virginia Beach Law Group

At Virginia Beach Law Group, we have extensive experience with trusts, wills, and estate planning in Virginia. We always strive to make the process as efficient as possible. If we do not believe you would benefit from a living trust, we will let you know and offer much more affordable alternatives such as wills. While a will does have to go through probate, that can be easier and more affordable overall than a living trust in many cases. Take a look at what some of our previous clients had to say about our services.

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Estate Planning That Fits Your Life

A living trust could be an essential part of your estate planning, but you may not need one at all. Find out which would work best for your unique circumstances by discussing it with the lawyers at Virginia Beach Law Group. It is better to meet with an estate planning attorney to discuss the size of your estate and your ambitions for what happens to your estate after you pass, THEN select the proper estate planning tool that matches the scope of the estate and your ambition for it. We offer the experience and professionalism that lets you approach estate planning with confidence. Achieve peace of mind for yourself and your loved ones. Get in touch with our team today by calling 757-486-4529 or by filling out our online contact form to schedule an initial consultation.