Designed to provide more privacy and legal protection than wills do, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ins, outs, and advantages of living trusts. Understanding what this document is and how it works can help you determine if it’s the right option for you. Learn the basics.
Do you want to give your home to your children without including its value in your estate for state and federal tax purposes? Do you want to be able to gift property to your heirs while still retaining the ability to live in it and hold an ownership interest for a set amount of years? …
Trusts are excellent vehicles for managing and moving wealth between individuals, both in life and death. But setting up a trust is not quite as simple as drafting and notarizing a will. Continue reading for an in-depth analysis of a joint trust vs. separate trust. There are several moving parts, agreements, and conditions to consider …
Trusts and estate plans can get incredibly complicated, so let us break the AB living trust down into its most basic moving parts. AB living trusts are a two-part trust process involving the creation of an A trust (the marital trust) and a B trust (the bypass trust). Both trusts ensure that the wealth accrued …
When a person dies, their belongings distribute among the living. There is very little we can take with us into the afterlife – and most of what counts as a personal possession, especially property, must pass into another person’s ownership. Probate laws determine this. Probate refers to the judicial process of administering a decedent’s estate, …
A trust’s creation, management, and resolution can be very complicated in the trust administration process. Whether you intend to be the future decedent and would like to create a trust to manage certain assets within your estate before and after your death, or whether you have been named as the successor trustee for a loved …
Trusts are flexible and powerful legal tools, in the right hands. However, when used inefficiently, they can become unmanageable, recklessly expensive, or serve as the equivalent of using a cannonball to swat a fly. If you want to make the most of your trust, start with why you might need one. In most cases, this …
Trusts can be a powerful legal tool if you know how to implement them. A trust allows you to safeguard assets from creditors and better prepare your estate for the event of your death, and your incapacity. Furthermore, trusts sidestep the probate process, which can take well over a year under certain circumstances. But trusts, …
For those who see their animal companions as family members, a pet is not mere property, but a trusted loved one. And while most humans outlive their pets, some animals can be quite long-lived, and in other cases, an untimely passing might leave a pet homeless. Estate planning may mean the difference between knowing our …
A testamentary trust is a trust agreement written and designed to go into effect after your death. As opposed to the more popular living trust, wherein the trust becomes valid as soon as it is signed and notarized, a testamentary trust is established through a last will and testament. Trusts and wills are often compared …
Trusts are powerful and versatile legal entities, allowing for asset protection, the elimination of conflicts of interest, minimizing tax liabilities, and the quick distribution of wealth before and after death. Yet to perform any of these functions, trusts must be written and managed in a certain way. There is a lot that goes into developing …