Estate Planning / Living Trusts
Keep Your Family
Out of Court and
Avoid Probate
A living trust is one of the most powerful tools in Florida estate planning. It transfers your assets privately, immediately, and exactly the way you intended, with no judge, no waiting, and no public record.
What Is a Living Trust
and Do You Need One?
In Florida, a living trust is a legal document that holds your assets during your lifetime and transfers them to your chosen beneficiaries after death, without going through probate. It also works during incapacity, so your family never has to go to court to manage your affairs.
Watch Natalia walk you through how a living trust works, who needs one in Florida, and why an unfunded trust is worse than no trust at all.
Book Your Free Discovery Call
Six Things a Living Trust
Does That a Will Cannot
Avoid Probate
Assets held in a properly funded trust transfer directly to your beneficiaries without court involvement, delays, or public record.
Protect Your Privacy
Unlike a will, a living trust is a private document. Your assets, beneficiaries, and family decisions stay out of the public record.
Control Who Gets What
You decide who inherits, when they inherit, and under what conditions. Minor children, blended families, and special circumstances are all handled on your terms.
Plan for Incapacity
If you become unable to manage your affairs, the people YOU choose step in immediately, with no court guardianship proceeding required.
Protect Your Home
Your Florida homestead transfers cleanly into the trust, preserving your homestead exemption and shielding equity from creditors.
We Assist in Funding
We guide you and assist you through the funding process so you never have to feel alone. An unfunded trust is just an expensive document, and we make sure yours actually works.
What Happens Without
a Living Trust in Florida
You own real estate in Florida
Without a Trust
Without a trust, your property goes through probate. On a $500,000 home, Florida statutory fees can exceed $30,000 and take 12 to 18 months.
With a Trust
A properly funded trust transfers the property directly to your heirs, privately and immediately, with no court and no fees.
You have a blended family
Without a Trust
Florida intestacy law does not recognize your intent. A stepchild, a new spouse, and a biological child from a prior marriage can all have competing claims.
With a Trust
A trust lets you specify exactly who gets what, removing all ambiguity and protecting each relationship on your terms.
You have minor children
Without a Trust
Minors cannot legally inherit directly. Without a trust, a court appoints a guardian of their property until they turn 18, and they receive everything at once.
With a Trust
Our KidSafe Legacy Plan covers every gap. It holds and manages assets for your children until the age you choose, with the people you select, and includes guardian nominations and instructions to protect them completely.
We Don't Just Draft Your Trust.
We Make Sure It Works.
Most law firms hand you a signed trust document and consider the job done. The problem is that a trust only protects what is inside it. If your home, bank accounts, and investment accounts are never retitled into the trust, your family still goes through probate.
At LCO Law, asset funding is part of the process, not an afterthought. Natalia holds a Master of Laws in Taxation, which means your trust is also built to minimize tax consequences your family will face after you are gone.
- We retitle your real estate, accounts, and policies into the trust
- We train your successor trustee so they know exactly what to do
- Flat fees only , no hourly billing, no surprise invoices
- We stay with you for a minimum of 3 years to keep the plan current
- Master of Laws in Taxation , rare for a Florida estate planning attorney
Frequently Asked Questions
A will only takes effect at death and must go through probate before anything transfers. A living trust takes effect immediately, works during incapacity, and transfers assets at death without any court process. Most Florida families benefit from having both.
Yes. We pair every trust with a "pour-over will" that catches any assets not transferred into the trust during your lifetime and directs them into it. The two documents work together.
Yes. A revocable living trust can be amended or revoked at any time as long as you are competent. Life changes like a new child, a divorce, or a property purchase are easy to address with a trust amendment.
LCO Law charges a flat fee for trust-based estate plans. The cost depends on your family structure and asset picture, which is why we start with a discovery call. What we can tell you: the flat fee is almost always less than one year of probate costs on a modest estate.
Funding means retitling your assets, such as your home, bank accounts, and investment accounts, so they are legally owned by the trust. Most firms skip this step. We assist and guide you through this process to make sure your trust actually works.
Ready to Build a Trust
That Actually Works?
Book a free discovery call. We will review your family situation, your assets, and your goals, and tell you exactly what a living trust plan looks like for you.
Prefer to call? (813) 480-2106