Throughout our lives, we work hard to acquire all we own. It is for this reason that it is important to make arrangements that will ensure our wealth continues to grow in our lifetime and for generations to come.
To get a handle on how you can better protect your assets, it is important you understand Probate.
What is Probate?
Probate is the legal process by which the authenticity of a Will is established as the valid and true last testament of a deceased person. The Probate process takes place in the Probate Registry of a court, after which a Grant of Probate is issued providing legal authority to someone (usually a relative) to take control of the assets of a deceased person.
Why is Asset Protection important?
Asset Protection is the tool adopted to enable family and loved ones enjoy one’s wealth for generations.
If you own assets (these may range from real estate to mutual funds, stocks or anything of financial value), it is important you create a plan that will allow your wealth to be professionally managed and subsequently distributed according to your instructions.
With an Asset Protection plan, you can do more than outline specific instructions on how you want your wealth to be distributed; you can make arrangements to ensure your wealth is properly managed while you are alive and smoothly transferred to your loved ones, avoiding lengthy court proceedings.
Your Asset Protection plan should cover your family and institutions you want to benefit from your wealth. You could also include charitable organizations that champion causes you care about in your plan.
How do you go about it?
The first step to protecting your assets is creating a foolproof Estate Plan. A robust Estate Plan usually includes an Asset Protection plan securing your wealth from numerous financial pitfalls, including individuals who want to take over your assets and deprive your loved ones of what’s due to them.
Although there are several forms of Estate Planning, we recommend a Living Trust as the Estate Planning tool of choice. A Living Trust gives you flexibility of seeing your assets professionally managed while you are alive and also allows you to name beneficiaries that you want to bequeath assets to in the future.
A Living Trust helps you bypass Probate, saving you and your loved ones from expending unnecessary resources.
At FBN Trustees, we exist to help you manage your wealth and subsequently transfer it to your loved ones according to your instructions without incident.
As a member of the reputed FBN Holdings Group, we are a team of experts who have in-depth industry knowledge, local awareness and relevant experience, having helped individuals, families and businesses develop wealth transfer plans over several decades.
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Start planning for the future now, set up a Living Trust today. Contact us to get started.
