Establish a Trust to Protect Yourself & Those You Love

Trusts are valued by many people for a variety of reasons. When an estate plan includes one or more trusts, it can help people protect their assets and spare their loved ones from enduring the probate process after they pass on. If you’ve thought about establishing a new trust, Legacy Planning Group can provide the legal support you need to gain the best possible outcomes for yourself and your family.

After learning more about your current estate plan and what your goals are, our attorney can offer legal guidance to achieve them. That means you can benefit from advice and services that take your unique objectives and circumstances into account. There are many different kinds of trusts that fulfill unique needs, and Legacy Planning Group can provide the assistance required to sift through complex options and choose the ones that can lead to optimal outcomes.

For more information about how we can help, schedule a consultation with Legacy Planning Group today. Get in touch with us by submitting an online contact form or by calling.

How Does a Trust Avoid Probate?

Trusts are important estate planning tools because they provide a means of avoiding probate for the grantor’s relatives after the grantor (the person who created the trust) dies. Despite their other important differences, both revocable and irrevocable trusts provide this benefit – but how?

When a grantor creates a trust, they can assign ownership of property over to the trust. Such property can be real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, and more. In doing so, the property effectively belongs to the trust, not the grantor’s personal estate, which would otherwise be probated (and may still be probated if certain property is not or cannot be funded into the trust).

It’s important to note that testamentary trusts do not avoid probate. These are trusts that the deceased stated in their will should be created after death to manage the estate’s assets. Because a testamentary trust’s creation and funding follow the grantor’s death, probate cannot be avoided.

How Are Revocable & Irrevocable Trusts Different?

Because there are many different types of trusts out there, not all of them function exactly the same. Most, however, may fall into one of two categories: revocable and irrevocable.

As these terms imply, a revocable trust is one that can have its terms changed by its grantor without the consent of the beneficiaries. Think about a revocable living trust and how many people use them to avoid probate. The grantor (the person who made the trust) can benefit from whatever they put in a revocable living trust, and the remainder skips probate upon their death.

Conversely, an irrevocable trust is one that’s difficult or impossible to alter after it’s been established. People tend to choose these types of trusts to protect certain assets from creditors or provide loved ones with special needs financial resources that won’t affect their eligibility for public benefits. They also skip probate, and there can be strong tax incentives that may come with forming an irrevocable trust that are worth consideration.

There’s a lot more to these types of trusts and many others that fulfill specific roles than we can explain here. If you want to discuss your needs and potential options with an attorney, reach out to Legacy Planning Group today to get the quality assistance you need!