Real Estate - Estate Planning - Trusts and LLCs
Hello,
I am updating my estate plan (Last Will and Testament) to add my 4 rental properties. I am putting them in a trust, however the attorney has advised that they will still have to go through probate unless I "fund the trust". I was quoted an up front fee (~$2000) to retitle everything into the trust including eligible investment accounts in addition to my real estate and then a $500/yr maintenance fee (not sure what the purpose of this fee is).
In addition, I think I will have to update all of my leases and get them resigned. With all of these fees coming out of my current income and complexity of retitling, resigning leases, and whatever else I need to do, I am thinking of foregoing this step. My rationale is that my assets will cover all the legal fees and probate fees if I pass away. I am single, so the timing of disbursement of my assets isn't critical to support anyone.
Additionally, I may set up an LLC in the future and will have to go through the re-title again at that point.
Would appreciate any pros/cons and or other considerations from anyone who has gone through this before.