Can I avoid the costs and fees associated with probate of my estate by having a Revocable Living Trust?
The simple answer to this question is yes, but you must “fund your trust” with those assets which would otherwise constitute your estate in order to avoid having those assets subjected to probate fees and costs. This means actually transferring legal title to real and personal property into the trust, and holding title to such property in the name of the trust. There are no other methods to have real and personal property pass to your heirs outside of probate, but those methods generally all require giving up your sole ownership of the asset unless the particular property can be transferred on death by way of a beneficiary designation, such as a life insurance policy or an individual retirement account.
