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how his part of their estate is managed and distributed instead of letting Sue have complete 
control. The assets in Bob's trust are valued and taxed only at his death; any appreciation after 
he dies will not be included in Sue's estate. Yet, the assets in Bob's trust can still be available for 
anything Sue needs. 
As this chart shows, if you are married, planning ahead with a living trust can save thousands of 
dollars in estate taxes and probate fees. This same estate tax planning can also be done in a will, 
but you would not avoid probate or enjoy the other benefits of a living trust. 

		SIMPLE WILL 			LIVING TRUST WITH TAX PLANNING 	
ESTATE 		ESTATE 		PROBATE 			ESTATE 	PROBATE 			
SIZE 		TAXES* 		FEES"" 		TOTAL 	TAXES 			FEES 	TOTAL 		
$ 1,000,000 	$ 	0 	$ 	30,000 	$ 	30,000 	$ 	0 	$ 	0 	$ 	0 	
2,500,000 		0 		75,000 		75,000 		0 		0 		0 	
5,000,000 		0 		150,000 		150,000 		0 		0 		0 	
7,500,000 		875,000 		225,000 	1,100,000 		0 		0 		0 	
tO,OOO,OOO 	1,750,000 		300,000 	2,050,000 		0 		0 		0 	
	"'1n 201 f and 2012 		**eJtimated at 3 	Fee.! for dO.14ments and/ or estat« tax: rnttr?J sot ifldttded. 			
What if I'm not married? 
This planning feature is only available to married couples. However, an experienced estate plan- 
ning attorney will be able to recommend other options to help you save estate taxes. 
What's involved in setting up a living trust? 
You make the basic planning decisions: inventory your assets, decide who will be your trustee, 
successor trustees, and beneficiaries. The legal document is then prepared from your decisions. 
After you've approved and signed the document, you transfer your assets to your living trust. 
This is called funding your trust. 
Do I need to fund my living trust now? 
If you want the control we've been talking about, you must fund your living trust now while you 
are able. Your living trust can only control the assets that have been transferred into it. 
Is it hard to put assets into my living trust? 
No, and your attorney, trust officer, financial adviser and insurance agent can help. You'll need to 
change titles on real estate (local and out-of-state) and other assets with formal titles-savings, 
stocks, CDs, other investments, insurance, etc. In most states, changing titles will not trigger a 
revaluation of your real estate or disturb your mortgage in any way. Most living trusts include 
jewelry, clothing, home furnishings, art, and other personal property that do not have formal titles. 
You'll also need to change beneficiary designations on some assets (like insurance) to your living 
trust so the court cannot control them if a beneficiary is incapacitated or no longer living when 
you die. In these cases, your trust will receive the proceeds and the funds can be used to care for 
your incapacitated beneficiary or can be distributed according to your instructions. 
There may be some assets you may not want in, or that cannot be put into, your trust. For example, 
IRAs and other tax-deferred savings plans can be exceptions. Also, your attorney may have a valid 
	reason (like avoiding a potential lawsuit) for leaving a certain asset out of your trust. 	. 
Doesn't it take a lot of time to change titles and beneficiary designations? 
It will take some time. But you can do it now, or you can pay the courts and attorneys to do it for 
you later when you cannot. 
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