Who Needs a Family Trust and Who Doesn’t?

By Barry Peters | Aug 21, 2019

How can you determine just who needs a Family Trust and who doesn’t?

The primary factor in making that call is the nature and value of what you own. The more you own, the greater the likelihood that probate will be required when you pass away. And for those who would like their heirs to not have to go through probate, a Family Trust is the best solution.

So how much in assets will push you over that line? Here are the rules:

• If you own any real estate, regardless of its value, probate will almost always be required when you die.
• If you don’t own any real estate, but have other assets with a total value in excess of $100,000, probate will still be required when you pass away.

So, the only people that are safe from the requirement of probate are those who own no real estate and whose other assets have a value of less than $100,000. Those people can often do without a Family Trust and still avoid probate.

But for the rest of us, a Family Trust is the best vehicle for dodging probate.