Ottawa University Planned Giving

Living Trust

A living trust lets you provide for yourself and your family before and after your death. It has built-in flexibility that can work very well with your overall estate plans, because it allows you to stay in control of your assets.

Like wills, living trusts are fully revocable, so you can change or terminate them at any time during your life. But unlike wills, the terms of a living trust can be put into effect immediately. You can also arrange a contribution to us through a living trust by naming us as the ultimate beneficiary. This method of giving is attractive because you still have complete control of the assets during your lifetime.

Benefits

• You or a beneficiary receive the income from the trust assets
• You're in charge, but a professional trustee may do the detail work
• You name who will ultimately receive the trust remainder
• The trust assets bypass probate, so the terms are private
• Assets in the trust are removed from your probate estate, so estate expenses may be less