Living Trust Children

Cash Accounts. Rafe Swan / Getty Images. Non-Retirement Investment and Brokerage Accounts. Non-qualified Annuities. Stocks and Bonds Held in Certificate Form. Tangible Personal Property. Business Interests. Life Insurance. Monies Owed to You.

One type of trust that will protect your assets from your creditors is called an irrevocable trust. Once you establish an irrevocable trust, you no longer legally own the assets you used to fund it and can no longer control how those assets are distributed.

A revocable living trust is a trust document created by an individual that can be changed over time. Revocable living trusts are used to avoid probate and to protect the privacy of the trust owner and beneficiaries of the trust as well as minimize estate taxes.

Qualified retirement accounts 401ks, IRAs, 403(b)s, qualified annuities. Health saving accounts (HSAs) Medical saving accounts (MSAs) Uniform Transfers to Minors (UTMAs) Uniform Gifts to Minors (UGMAs) Life insurance. Motor vehicles.

You can put your real estate into your living trust even if owe money on it. A loan on the property -- like a mortgage or deed of trust -- will follow the property into the trust, and it will also follow the property to the beneficiary.

Property you put in a living trust doesn't have to go through probate, which means that the assets won't get tied up in court for months and maybe years. However, you don't have to put bank accounts in a living trust, and sometimes it's not a good idea.

The process of funding your living trust by transferring your assets to the trustee is an important part of what helps your loved ones avoid probate court in the event of your death or incapacity. Qualified retirement accounts such as 401(k)s, 403(b)s, IRAs, and annuities, should not be put in a living trust.

Houses and other real estate (even if they're mortgaged) stock, bond, and other security accounts held by brokerages (but think about naming a TOD beneficiary instead) small business interests (stock in a closely held corporation, partnership interests, or limited liability company shares)

A trust is the best way to protect your vacation home. This legal agreement allows you to lay out your wishes clearly for how the property should be handled once you die. You can use a trust to determine who gets your vacation home, when they have access to it, and what they can do with the property.