The Truth About Living Trusts

The truth: These seminars (or home visits) are designed to sell you a living trust. Salespeople often inflate the costs involved in settling an estate, and promote living trusts as THE solution. They are often aggressive in their sales tactics, pressuring you to buy right away (or risk losing the “good” deal).

The claim: A card arrives, saying that a recent AARP study finds that the probate process is outdated and costs Americans billions each year.

 

The truth: AARP has never given permission for living trust marketers to use its name. Responding to this card may make you a target for a hard sell from marketers, or possibly a scam. If you receive a card saying something like this, please send the card to:

 

AARP Consumer Protection

601 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20049

 

We may not be able to respond, but your response will help us keep fraudulent marketers

from using AARP’s name.

 

And the scams don’t stop with just living trusts. In fact, salespeople will often try to get you to fill out forms that disclose your financial assets. Once they’ve see your finances, they often recommend different investments, usually insurance-type products like annuities. Their aim is not to meet your estate planningor investment needs. Their aim is to earn high commissions from the sale of these products.

 

Remember: If you want to know if a living trust is right for you, get advice from an estate planning attorney.