Revocable | Irrevocable | Life Insurance Trust Revocable Living Trust: USE - Estate Planning Estate Tax Planning The Revocable Living Trust can be described as a contract among three (3) people or groups of people: The Grantor - The person/entity who establishes the trust, The Trustee - The person/entity that will administer the trust pursuant to the terms and conditions of the trust, The Beneficiaries - The person/entities that the Grantor has selected to receive assets during their life and upon their death. With a Revocable Living Trust the client can be all three - grantor, trustee and beneficiary. The Revocable Living Trust, without question, is one of the most powerful domestic Estate Planning devices in use today. Some advantages of the Revocable Living Trust are: Eliminates the probate process and all of its delays and cost, Assures that your client's assets are distributed in accordance with their wishes, Can be amended at any time prior to death to reflect changes in family circumstance, economic circumstances or take advantage of law changes, Allows the client to maintain complete asset control, during their lifetime. The Revocable Living Trust does have a major defect. If offers zero asset protection, zero income tax or capital gains tax planning, and is limited in its estate tax planning by certain rules and regulations. However, we will discuss how to gain asset protection, reduce income and capital gains taxes along with the elimination of estate taxes as we proceed. Having said that there are defects, we still believe that the Revocable Living Trust is an integral part of any estate plan.