Revocable vs. Irrevocable Trust

[pk5]

Hi everyone

Does anyone here have experience with Revocable vs. Irrevocable trust in term of benefit? My father in law want to put the house into a trust for his 2 daughters (my wife and her sister), is there a pro or con between the 2 trusts? He doesn't plan on re-financing the house since his current rate is good, and we (me and my wife) would take over the mortgage to help him once the house is in a trust.

Thanks

[Grendel]

Disclaimer - Not a lawyer so take my opinion for what it is worth.

Revocable - The current asset holder can modify or dissolve the trust without notification or involvement of the beneficiaries.
Irrevocable - Once the trust is enacted any modifications to the trust require both the originator and beneficiaries mutual consent to those modifications.

I am one of the listed executors to my parent's Trust so have a little experience with this on a practical term after my father died. If your father in-law is competent (legally) I think he would be dis-served by an irrevocable Trust. Things and circumstances change and as long as he is able to make his own decisions concerning his assets I would recommend revocable. Where I would consider an irrevocable trust is in the case if I was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer I would consider getting my estate into order and a trust setup before I lost my competence to deal with it and "set it in stone" to try and protect myself and family. Other then that type of situation where I no longer can make decisions for myself would I consider an irrevocable trust. My parents was revocable when mom and dad created it and after dad died and still is for my mother. Mom is still very competent (at 88 years old) and capable of making her own decisions. She does talk to us about changes so we are up to date on the status of the trust but she does not have to and we have no final say while she is able to make decisions for herself.

[sniper97]

Also not an atty, my understanding, to fully protect your assets, the trust needs to be irrevocable at least 5 yrs prior to going into a nursing home.

Also, you can refi with a revocable trust, depending on the powers of the trust....or worst case take the property from a trust, refi and put it back in the trust