Vivinavi : Silicon Valley : (United States) Silicon Valley

What are the advantages of a Living Trust?

In the United States, living trusts are frequently used in estates, the most typical being the Revocable Living Trust. Establishing a revocable living trust and having your property held in trust generally has the following advantages.

• During your lifetime, you are free to own ・ and manage your property as you always have.
• You can nominate in advance a person whom you trust as your successor trustee, so that if you become unable to manage your property due to illness or old age, you can entrust the management of your property to that person.
• Upon your death, the trust assets are not subject to probate （ court-supervised probate ） and can be distributed to your beneficiaries by a successor trustee or arranged to continue to be administered for your benefit.

Estate planning with a living trust is the most adaptable plan because it can be prepared for a variety of situations.

Is it advantageous to own my home as Joint Tenancy ？

If you are married and your home is a Community Property, it is generally more advantageous to own your home as "Community Property with Right of Survivorship" rather than "Joint Community Property with Right of Survivorship is a relatively new form of ownership, so if the home was purchased many years ago, it is generally more advantageous to use "Community Property with Right of Survivorship" instead of "Joint Tenancy". Since Community Property with Right of Survivorship is a relatively new form of ownership, there are many cases where the property ownership is still in Joint Tenancy if the house was purchased many years ago. However, Community Property with Right of Survivorship is more likely to reduce taxes, especially if the value of the home has increased since purchase.

Do Green Card （ Permanent Resident ） Holders Pay More Taxes Than U.S. Citizens ？

U.S. Estate Tax Credit （ Changes Annually at $12.92 Million for 2023 ） are Green Card Holders treated the same as U.S. treated the same as U.S. citizens. If the value of the estate is within the credit, no estate tax is imposed. There is a difference between U.S. citizens and green card holders when the value of the estate exceeds that amount. That is, a surviving spouse who is a green card holder （, i.e., a non-U.S. citizen ）, may be subject to a 40% estate tax on the excess of the exemption amount if he or she receives an estate from a deceased spouse. It is recommended that estate ・ planning be established in advance to address this situation.