INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW
Before you agree to have a trust written by anyone, insist on a complete explanation about what it will do and how it will meet your needs and those of your beneficiaries. Do not hesitate to ask questions. If you ask a question and you do not receive a satisfactory answer or if the answer sounds like double talk, it probably is. If you ask questions and the trust seller constantly defers the answer to someone somewhere else, you are probably doing business with someone that does not know what they are talking about and they have no business advising you about estate planning.
HOW TO LEARN MORE
There are several excellent books about trusts and estate planning written in easily understandable language for the lay person. In addition, articles appear frequently in various quality magazines such as Consumers Digest, Newsweek, and Modern Maturity, published by AARP. The articles they contain are unbiased and not designed to sell you anything but instead, to provide you with facts necessary to make informed decisions about trusts and estate planning and avoid being taken advantage of. Use them as a resource to test the information you receive from a trust seller. If the trust seller is saying something that does not agree with the general literature on the subject, it is certainly a reason to investigate further.
For additional information, see:
Living Trust Offers: How to Make Sure They're Trust-Worthy" (www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro08.shtm) from the Federal Trade Commission
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