Estate Planning with accordance law firm

 A trust is a critical wealth and estate planning tool. There are several potential benefits to creating a trust. Your trust will hold assets such as money, real estate, investments, or other valuable assets, on behalf of the trust creator’s beneficiaries. The assets are managed by a trustee, who is named by the individual creating the trust (Settlor) and should certainly be someone you wish to handle your assets. This role often done by the Settlor.

Common purposes of trusts include estate planning, asset protection, charitable giving, and special needs planning. They can also provide tax benefits, such as reducing estate and gift taxes, and can offer privacy and flexibility in managing assets.

Importantly, trusts are key for individuals with moderate to wealthy estates to avoid the often-burdensome probate process.

Overall, a trust provides helpful structure in the way you can manage and distribute assets, while providing protection and benefits to loved ones and beneficiaries.

A Revocable Living Trust is most commonly used and provides for the transfer of ownership of your assets to the created trust during your lifetime. A revocable trust creator, or trustor, can serve as the trustee and maintain control of the named assets, and the trust can provide for the management and distribution of your assets after your death. The benefit here is control and the ability to amend or cancel the trust for any reason.

Less common are Irrevocable trusts, which cannot be changed or revoked. For example, an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, is permanent, and you generally cannot change your mind regarding your decision to establish this kind of trust once it’s in effect. This trust can hold life insurance policies outside of your estate, which can help to minimize estate taxes. The trust is the owner of the policy, and the beneficiaries receive the death benefit tax-free.

Another kind of irrevocable trust is a Special Needs Trust If you have a loved one such as a child or disabled dependent, you may benefit from a Special Needs Trust, which is designed to provide for the needs of a disabled beneficiary without disqualifying them from government benefits such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI). A special needs trust can protect assets from creditors or lawsuits. This can be particularly important for individuals with special needs, who may be vulnerable to financial exploitation or fraud.

 A Charitable Remainder Trust is a trust that allows you to donate assets to charity while retaining income from those assets during your lifetime. After your death, the remaining assets in the trust go to charity. 

A Testamentary Trust is a trust that is created in your will and takes effect after your death. It can be used to provide for minor children or other beneficiaries who may not be capable of managing assets on their own.

Other advanced planning devices such as offshore trusts can be setup to provided added protection for larger, more complex estates.

I can help you understand what kind of trust-based estate planning would work best for your current financial situation and goals.