How to Keep What Is Yours – The Complex Made Simple*

In creating this explanation of Trusts, their uses, and my philosophy behind them, I have tried to employ the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) method. I feel well equipped to dazzle you with a lot of legal lingoes that would impress you but leave you confused and unable to proceed. But I know that this would not serve you. Therefore, I have tried to approach this highly technical subject in an easy-to-understand format. My own research, and the experience of others, have led me to the understanding that TRUSTS are almost 100% new information for most people.

Why Do You Need The Personal Property Trust?

The Personal Property Trust or PPT is a more highly defined type of Living Trust. It has as its asset Personal property only. It can have anyone you choose as the Trustee(s), Beneficiary(ies), and can have a third party director if you choose. The reason for a Personal Property Trust to be separate from other Trusts is to segregate assets into individualized compartments. This is particularly beneficial in the case of mobile homes and other high liability items such as vehicles, boats, airplanes, etc., where the vulnerability of the whole estate could be limited due to the complexity and expense of suing many individual Trusts.

Keeping What’s Yours Starts With Keeping It Secret

I talk about this when it comes to using any type of TRUST, but in today’s litigious society, financial privacy must be the primary goal for individuals with any assets including property owners and investors of all types. The first step to privacy should be to get your name off public records. Land Trusts accomplish that for real estate, and everything else is protected using a PPT. This can include titles to automobiles, boats, motorcycles, airplanes, mobile homes, etc. Public records reveal who owns the items of registered personal property, when they got it, and who holds a loan against it. Someone with an inquiring mind can visit the tax commissioner’s office and discover what the county has appraised the property for, the address they send the tax bill to, and whether you have paid your taxes.

You Need A Personal Property Trust and A Living Trust

A Personal Property Trust acts the same as a Living Trust in the passing of asset(s). One could actually have one Trust with one piece of personal property go to one beneficiary and have another Trust with one piece of personal property go to a different beneficiary or split percentages among various beneficiaries. This is the same opportunity provided by a Living Trust. Living Trusts provide the advantage of spelling out in detail what you want to happen if you become incapacitated. In the limited scope of a Personal Property Trust it would be unusual to have all of these detailed provisions spelled out. Therefore, once a Living Trust is created, what many people choose to do is have the Living Trust or Trusts as beneficiary of the Personal Property Trust. Then the asset of each Personal Property Trust flow to the Living Trust which details the distribution of the assets or proceeds from that point on. It is really vital that you use trusts if you have ANYTHING of value. Contact us today if you have any questions, but don’t put this off.