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Property That May Avoid Probate Property held in a trust3 Jointly held property (but not common property) Death benefits from insurance policies (unless payable to the estate)4 Property given away before you die. Assets in a pay-on-death account. Retirement accounts with a named beneficiary.

There are two types of trusts under the jurisdiction of the probate division of the Vermont Superior Court: testamentary and nontestamentary. The probate process is a safety measure for the distribution of property when someone dies.

To make a living trust in Vermont, you: Choose whether to make an individual or shared trust. Decide what property to include in the trust. Choose a successor trustee. Decide who will be the trust's beneficiaries?that is, who will get the trust property. Create the trust document.

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. Revocable trusts, however, have several limitations including the expense to have them written up, and they lack features of an irrevocable trust.

Limitations: Requires adherence to trust document's instructions on asset assignments. Joint assets, including certain IRAs and retirement plans, cannot be placed into a one-person trust. No complete tax avoidance: Total avoidance of taxes is rarely possible with living trusts, though there may be ways to reduce them.

The main purpose of a living trust is to oversee the transfer of your assets after your death. Under the terms of the living trust, you are the grantor of the trust, and the person you designate to distribute the trust's assets after your death is known as the successor trustee.