An alternative to POD accounts: a revocable living trust that keeps almost all your assets outside probate.

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Create a personalized (not boilerplate) revocable living trust to manage your assets during your disability or illness.

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The good news is that with proper estate planning including a revocable living trust probate court can be avoided entirely.

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You've heard the pitch: Put your assets in a revocable living trust now and save your heirs from the horrors of probate later.

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"Usually, a revocable living trust for someone under 60 is more complexity than is necessary, " says Joan Bozek, a director in Merrill Lynch's private wealth management group.

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He also set up a revocable living trust for Patti.

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So, simple things that even aren't necessarily to do with the current tax administration, the fear that taxes are going to go up, but having a revocable living trust, for example, to hold your assets to protect you from probate.

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The third important document for households with significant assets is a living revocable trust.

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The takeaway: If you want privacy, transfer the bulk of your assets through a living trust (also called a revocable trust), rather than a will.

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