Living Trust Lawyer

Too many people associate estate planning with death and in doing so turn away from what is truly valuable instrument of asset protection and financial management. One of the most important and beneficial tools a trust attorney has is a living trust. Living trusts allows you to both protect your assets from being taxed and transfer your assets to the party or parties you choose as your beneficiary for the trust. The assets in a living trust are also protected from having to go through the probate process.

If you would like to learn more about living trusts, contact name of firm to meet with one of our trust attorneys. In the meantime, the following is a brief overview of how living trusts work.

Asset Protection

Unlike a will, which becomes effective only upon your death, a living trust is effective while you are alive. For many, a primary reason to create a living trust is to protect assets from taxes and government health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. This form of lawful asset protection is accomplished when legal title is transferred from you (the grantor) to a trustee. The trustee holds the assets in trust for those who have selected to benefit from them (the beneficiaries). 

The law even allows for you to be the trustee of your own living trust, which allows you to retain full control of the assets held in the trust. While you are living, whether as both grantor and trustee or merely grantor, the transfer of title from yourself as an individual to a separate trustee or to yourself as trustee facilitates the protection of trust assets from taxes and government health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare. Such asset protection, naturally, allows you to bequeath more to your loved ones and other intended beneficiaries at the time of your death.

Choosing the Right Trust for You

A living trust keeps working even after your passing, which allows your loved ones and beneficiaries to bypass the cost and delay of probate court proceedings. The most important decision is choosing the type of trust that is right for you, your assets, and those you intend to benefit. There are many different types of trusts that can benefit your estate, including the following:

• Asset protection trust
• Charitable trust
• Constructive trust
•  Irrevocable trust
•  Pet trust
• Revocable trust
• Special needs trust
• Spendthrift trust
• Tax bypass trust
• Totten trust

Contact a Trust Attorney Today

If you would like to learn more about the different trusts available and how trusts can be used in your estate plans, contact a trust lawyer in Rolling Meadows, IL today to set up a free initial consultation.

 

Thanks to Bott & Associates, Ltd. for their insight into estate planning and creating living trusts.