Page 24 - Ultimate Guide to Estate Planning

you are placing it in the revocable living trust
bucket and having the rules set forth in the
revocable living trust take effect as to those

assets.

Unlike a will, which only becomes effective
upon your death, your trust is immediately
effective. It can also be changed by you at any
time. Ordinarily, you are the grantor (the

person creating the trust) and normally act as
the initial trustee for the beneficiaries
(persons identified to receive benefits from the
trust). The initial beneficiary is generally you,

the grantor.

The trust establishes rules by which assets
will be invested, managed and distributed.
You can think of this as putting a lid on top of
your revocable living trust bucket and a faucet

at the bottom of your revocable living trust
bucket. By establishing rules for investing
assets, you are placing a lid on the bucket
which is taken off so that rain can go into the

bucket on rainy days yet the lid is placed back
on to avoid evaporation on sunny days. By
placing a faucet on the bottom of the bucket,
you are providing rules by which the faucet is

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