Revocable Living Trusts in Louisiana to Avoid Probate

I hosted a webinar last week that address revocable living trusts in Louisiana. It forced me to take a closer look at the issue. A few things I discovered were:

1. Probate Costs are increasing. If you die living in East Baton Rouge Parish, your estate will have to contribute $200.00 to the Parish's Building Fund, your estate will have to pay for something called Judges Expense Fund, your estate will have to pay for something called the Judges Supplemental Compensation Fund, and your estate will pay something called an Initiation Fee (I have no idea!).
   At our office we spend thousands weekly (sometimes daily) on probate/succession filing fees. These would be avoided with a properly funded living trust.
2. Privacy is now a big deal. Louisiana succession/probate records are entering the internet. It concerns me more than a little that when a husband dies leaving a surviving wife, all of their bank accounts, CDs, savings accounts, bonds, mutual funds, cash, credit cards, real estate, loans, vehicles, stocks, investment accounts, and more will be made a public record for all of the world to see. Must keep their financial affairs private during their lifetime - but at death it is available for the world to see. I predict in the future, financial scam artists will use this public information to commit financial crimes on surviving spouses and others. A revocable living trust can keep your financial matters private.
3. Our court system is broken. Many legal and financial transactions can take place instantly using technology = but not probate. Probate in Louisiana requires cumbersome court filings - these documents must first be filed in the clerk of court office, then somehow submitted to a judge's office, then reviewed and approved by a judge's law clerk, then signed by a judge, then forwarded on to a processing department, and then back to us for recording in the real estate records. All of this is unnecessary with a revocable living trust.

While RLTs are not the cure-all for estate planning woes, I think they will become more popular in Louisiana as conusmers get frustrated with the costs, delays, and lack of privacy of successions.

Feel fee to list your comments or pose your questions as a comment.

 

Comments

[Susan_1]

This is truly amazing that some one would care enough to allow me Ms. Jane Q. Public to have access to the truth of the facts as to what REALLY happens after a loved one dies. My Mom had her own attorney who drew up all the necessary financial documents prior to her death.
My Mom apponted my brother as the Executor of her Estate only because i receiave SSI. My 1/2 brother,the ONLY famil I have left refuses to talk to me at all about the estate matters & WIL NOT allow me to view ANY of my Mom's finacial stuff. He will not cousult w/ meon anyrthing. I really need to figure out a way to remove him from his fiducial duty. I don't know why her attoney can't be the one who does the executor's job?
Perhaps *crosses fingers* this will help me to something to honor my my Mom's final wishes. She talks to me about alot of her wishes in the last days of her life
I was her sole caretaker & we were fortunate enough to shre quality time together. I even slept w in the day & night b/c i was worried she smother on her mucos,she had stage 4 Lung Cancer that had travled to her brain & lymph nodes when was finallyu diagnosed. my brother couldd've cared less % didn't even attend her burial

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