Today, many people who create an estate plan include a revocable living trust as a foundational piece. The great benefit of a revocable living trust lies in its ability to allow your estate to avoid, or at least minimize, the effect probate will play in transferring estate property. Unfortunately, most people have little experience dealing with trust, and don’t really understand how they operate. To help you better grasp the concept of what a living trust is and how it works, we’ve come up with … [Read more...] about Two Tips to Help You Better Understand Living Trusts
Trustees
When Trusts Protect Against Incapacity
One of the more popular estate planning tools today is the revocable living trust. Even though a lot of people create these trusts to avoid probate, many people don't realize that these devices can also help protect them in the event they become incapacitated. A proper incapacity plan should be a key piece of every comprehensive estate plan. Knowing how your revocable living trust interacts with your incapacity plan is important if you intend to get the most from your estate planning … [Read more...] about When Trusts Protect Against Incapacity
California Trust Questions: What is Decanting?
While you may have heard the term used in discussions about wine, the word “decanting” has very specific legal meaning when you’re dealing with a trust. In the state of Florida there is no specific law that allows trustees to decant trust property and transfer the property to a newly created trust, but it may still be possible to do so. While you will want to speak to an experienced and qualified attorney about the particular details surrounding decanting, here are the basics you need to … [Read more...] about California Trust Questions: What is Decanting?
Selecting a Trustee: Family Member, Friend or Professional?
Many people who create Trusts do not have a family member or close friend who is an appropriate person to appoint to serve as a Trustee. The person who serves as a Trustee should be financially responsible and someone who will not be tempted to administer the Trust for his or her own benefit instead of the benefit of the Trust beneficiaries. Ideally, the person should also be someone who the beneficiaries respect enough to defer to in decision-making without unnecessary … [Read more...] about Selecting a Trustee: Family Member, Friend or Professional?
3 Questions About Changing Testamentary Trust Terms
Question 1: How do I change the terms of the testamentary trust? When you create a testamentary trust, you write a will or living trust in which you detail the terms under which the testamentary trust will operate after your death. Because they will does not become effective until you die, the testamentary trust does not get created until after you die. So, the only way to change the terms of a testamentary trust is to amend the terms of your last will and testament or your living … [Read more...] about 3 Questions About Changing Testamentary Trust Terms
Three Common Questions about Trust Administration
If you are at all familiar with trusts and estate planning then you have probably heard of a revocable living trust, which is also known as an inter vivos trust. A living trust can be a valuable tool both in life and in death; but, for many people, it is not always clear just how it operates and how it is administered. What is a revocable living trust? Basically, it is a set of directions that the creator of the trust gives to the trustee that detail how assets are to be managed while the … [Read more...] about Three Common Questions about Trust Administration
A Charitable Trust – Not Just For The Wealthy
For many people, the chance to use your wealth to support a worthy cause or charity is one of the great joys of developing an estate plan. While you can choose to give gifts now or donate them through your estate, you may want to consider establishing a charitable trust. Charitable trusts give you a wide range of options when choosing how to leave your gift, and they are not only for the wealthy. If you haven't thought about a charitable trust before, here are several issues you may want to … [Read more...] about A Charitable Trust – Not Just For The Wealthy
Looking into Different Types of Trusts
Trusts have become a very useful tool in the estate planning field; in fact, you may be considering one yourself. If you are considering establishing a trust, you should be aware of the different types that exist. Revocable inter vivos trust This is the most flexible of all the trusts. The usual setup for this type of trust involves the trustor (i.e., trust’s creator) transferring legal title to property to the trustee (i.e., person entrusted with looking after the property). The catch is … [Read more...] about Looking into Different Types of Trusts
