E299 When do Solo Agers Need a Revocable Trust?

<p>Sometimes a revocable trust makes great sense for a solo ager estate plan. Generally, revocable trusts aren’t so great in New York, because they can be hard to fully fund. The main goal of a revocable trust is to avoid probate. Since revocable trusts are hard to fully fund, the goal of avoiding probate is not usually met. Here are a few reasons a revocable trust may nonetheless work for a solo ager.</p> <h2>Distant or disinherited heirs</h2> <p>Solo agers tend to have distant or disinherited heirs. By definition, a solo ager is usually unmarried, without children, or those individuals are not in the picture. Naturally, this puts the solo ager in a situation where their heirs are distance (nieces, nephews, siblings, etc.).</p> <p>We had a recent client whose solo natural heir was a distant cousin. In this case, a trust makes sense to avoid probate. When the remaining heir is a first cousin, there are extra hurdles during the court process such as: hiring a genealogist to submit a genealogy report, having the Public Administrator (PA) review court dates, and it generally makes probate longer and more difficult.</p> <p>To be clear, this process not only applies when you leave something to that distant cousin. Rather, the probate process requires you to notify you natural “default” heirs under New York State law, which includes distant cousins. Even if you don’t want to leave anything to the distant heir, the estate is still required to go through this process if the estate is probated.</p> <p><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-43239" src= "https://anthonyspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Distant-or-disinherited-heirs-300x169.jpg" alt="Distant or disinherited heirs" width="300" height="169" /></p> <p>Similarly, if you have a disinherited family member, they have the opportunity to object to your will or wishes during the probate process. Having a trust still gives them the opportunity to object, but it is not as structured as probate. Under the probate process, the heirs must be served notice of the p