What if the economy severely tanks? What if the government defaults on its debts? What if we have hyperinflation? Do you see our whole property rights system that has been around for centuries completely disappearing overnight?
Of course, if the Zombie Apocalypse occurs there will be no need for estate planning. Zombies trying to eat your grey matter don’t care about real estate property rights and legal ownership of bank accounts and investment accounts. But what if something short of a Zombie Apocalypse occurs? What if the economy severely tanks? What if the government defaults on its debts? What if we have hyperinflation? Do you see our whole property rights system that has been around for centuries completely disappearing overnight? Most likely not.
Let’s use Venezuela’s current situation as something short of a Zombie Apocalypse. The Venezuelan government is running low on money to pay government workers, so they only have government offices open half days for only two days a week. This includes the courts. What if our county probate courts did the same thing? If you use a will or haven’t made any plans at all, then your assets at your death have to go through probate. Probate averages one to three years right now and that is with a fully staffed court system with full time judges. If they were forced to only work eight hours a week, how much longer would the process take? My guess is five to eight years. That means that your heirs can’t use the assets you left them for five to eight years.
What if the government defaults on its debts or Congress won’t raise the debt ceiling. Do you think that that would affect the stock market? With a declining stock market, many people would want to sell their investments while they could still get some money for them. If you are dead, then no one has authority over your accounts. It takes significantly longer if you have a will or haven’t made any plans at all to get someone authorized to make trading decisions on your investment account. Remember, the judge who can grant authority is only working eight hours a week now.
What if hyperinflation hits like in Venezuela? Hyperinflation means that your dollar today only is worth $0.85 next week. $0.65 the next month. $0.45 the month after that. People try to spend their money as soon as possible to buy something that will maintain its value like food, gas, gold, silver, etc. If you use a will or make no plans at all, then every day the assets are waiting on the probate to finish is a day the inheritance is going down in value. And now the judge’s law clerk has been let go and the process is slowed down even more.
A Living Trust (Revocable Trust) avoids many of the problems that come with a disruption of government services because the Living Trust avoids the court system. So if you are a prepper, a survivalist, concerned with government shut-downs or simple a prudent planner, then you should seriously consider setting up a Living Trust. Because with a Living Trust, your heirs can literally have access to your assets within days of you having your grey matter eaten for a snack.
Estate Planners of Arkansas, P.A. has prepared over 4,000 Living Trust. Call 1-501-414-8965 for your FREE initial consultation today.