When Form 2220 Estates 2023-2024

So this video addresses a significant estate planning problem in America and what to do about it. If you've set up a revocable living trust in an attempt to enable your family to avoid probate when you die, then you need to watch this video from start to finish. But before I get into all the details, let me first congratulate you. Because if you've set up your living trust, you've taken some steps to enable your family to avoid all those difficulties that people complain about probate. It takes too long, you have to hire lawyers, it's expensive. You've got to deal with courts and pleadings, and frozen accounts, and can't sell the real estate. So congratulations for taking those steps to enable your family to avoid that. However, there's a problem out there, and it's a beast. The big problem is that people are setting up living trusts, and they're not funding or retitling assets into the name of their trust. Assets aren't in their trust when they die, so those assets are frozen, and there's no way around the probate because there are assets still in your name when you pass away. Now, when a trust is fully funded, it's a beautiful thing. Let me give an example. Mom passes away, her trust is fully funded. She has her house, she has her investments, she has her CDs - they're all titled in the name of the trust. She has three kids. She arranged her trust so that her oldest son would be the successor trustee when mom died, and her three children would be equal beneficiaries. Mom dies, everybody knows the house is going to get sold. So because mom had set things up the right way, the day after mom dies, son plops a for sale sign...