Estate Planning as a Career

As part of your year-end planning exercise, take a moment to consider what would happen to your assets and surviving family if you were no longer able to care for them. Then consider the potential benefits of setting up a trust. Trusts are an effective means of helping protect important assets, providing for beneficiaries and managing taxes. And, contrary to popular belief, trusts are not just for the wealthy.

A qualified attorney can help you set up a trust fairly easily that can be used for any number of practical purposes, such as:

Controlling assets and providing security for beneficiaries.
Providing for beneficiaries who are minors or who require expert assistance managing money.
Avoiding estate or income taxes.
Providing expert management of estates.
Avoiding probate expenses.
Maintaining privacy.
Protecting real estate holdings or a business.

Trust Definitions - A Quick Primer
A trust is a legal arrangement in which you, the owner of the estate and the trust’s grantor, transfer the legal title of that estate to somebody else - the trustee - for the purposes of benefiting one or more third parties - the beneficiaries. The trustee, who may be a person or corporation, is given title to the property in accordance with the terms of the trust agreement.

There are two general categories of trusts: revocable and irrevocable. Revocable trusts can be changed or “revoked.” Irrevocable trusts cannot be changed once they are set up. Most revocable trusts become irrevocable at the death or disability of the grantor. The assets you place into an irrevocable trust are permanently removed from your estate. Income and capital gains taxes on assets in the trust are paid by the trust. Upon your death, the assets in the trust are not considered part of your estate and are therefore not subject to es (more…)