Yes, trusts can avoid probate in Michigan. By creating a trust and transferring your assets into it, the assets can bypass the probate process when you pass away. This can save your beneficiaries time and money, as probate can be a lengthy and expensive process.
The cost of setting up a trust in Michigan varies depending on the complexity of the trust and the attorney's fees. A basic Revocable Living Trust generally ranges from $1,000 to $3,000. More complex trusts can cost several thousand dollars more. Online services like Snug can provide a more affordable alternative to traditional legal services, offering estate planning services, including trusts, at a lower cost.
A Revocable Living Trust is the most common type of trust people set up, offering flexibility and control over your assets during your lifetime and helping to avoid probate. Other types of trusts, such as Charitable Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, and Irrevocable Trusts, may be appropriate depending on your specific circumstances and goals.
Funding a trust in Michigan involves transferring ownership of your assets to the trust. For real estate, a new deed must be prepared with the trust as the owner. Bank accounts should be retitled in the name of the trust, and other assets like vehicles, personal property, stocks, and bonds must also be formally transferred to the trust.
In Michigan, any individual who is at least 18 years old and mentally competent can serve as a trustee. Additionally, Michigan law allows for corporations, like banks or trust companies, to serve as a trustee if they are authorized to exercise trust powers in the state. Trustees must be capable of managing and taking care of property, and they can't have been found guilty of serious crimes, including felonies or crimes that involve dishonesty or immoral behavior.
In Michigan, to change your living trust, you'll need to draft an amendment to the original trust document. It’s critical to clearly articulate in the amendment the modifications you wish to make such as adding or removing beneficiaries, changing trustees, or adjusting distribution instructions. Be sure to include the date, your name, the name of the trust, and the date the trust was established in the amendment. Just like the original trust document, your amendment needs to be signed in the presence of a notary public. If the changes you want to make are extensive, it might be more efficient to create a restatement of the trust. A restatement allows you to rewrite the entire trust, while keeping the original date and title of the trust, which can be beneficial for avoiding having to retitle assets. In the restatement, include all the changes you wish to make, and the new provisions will completely replace the old ones.
