It is important to understand all of the potential living trust benefits when you decide if you want to make a living trust. The specific benefits can vary depending upon your personal situation, so it is a good idea to talk with an experienced attorney who can provide you with personalized advice on whether a living trust is the right tool for you to use.
Frank & Kraft can help. A compassionate and knowledgeable member of our legal team can work with you to understand your goals for the future and to make a comprehensive plan to provide for your loved ones and protect your assets. Often, this plan will involve the creation of a living trust. When it does, we’ll help you to make a legally valid trust document to ensure that you are able to get the benefits that a living trust will provide. To find out more about the help we can offer, give us a call today.
Top Living Trust Benefits
There are many advantages to the creation of a living trust. Some of the top living trust benefits include:
- Protection for assets in case of incapacity: When you make a living trust, you can name someone who will be the backup trustee once you become unable to manage the money and property that you have put into the trust. In the event that you become incapacitated, your backup trustee will have authority to begin managing your wealth. Your assets won’t be at risk of loss during an interim period while your family goes to court to get a guardian or conservator named and you won’t have to count on the court naming the right guardian or conservator to manage your wealth.
- Passing assets outside of the probate process: One of the best benefits of a living trust is that assets which are held within the trust are able to be passed to heirs or beneficiaries through the trust administration process instead of through the probate process. This means that the wealth you hope to pass on can move to heirs or beneficiaries much more quickly and much more cost effectively than it would have passed through the probate process. It is also a more private process to pass assets through trust administration since court hearings aren’t required as part of trust administration. In fact, there’s no need to go to court at all unless there are problems, so there’s no court record when money and property pass through trust administration.
- Maintaining flexibility: With a living trust you get to be in control over your money and property as the primary trustee unless or until something happens to you. You can also end the trust or change it at any time, unlike with an irrevocable trust. This flexibility is often seen as a major advantage to people who don’t want to give up control over their wealth.
There may also be other benefits that are based on your specific situation. Frank & Kraft will help you to determine if you should create a legal team and will help you to compare living trusts to other trust types including irrevocable trusts.
Getting Help from a Living Trust Attorney
If you want to take advantage of the benefits associated with creating a living trust, contact Frank & Kraft today to find out what options you have available to you and how you can go through the trust creation process. We’ll assist you with all aspects of creating an enforceable trust document, including selecting the right type of trust, naming your trustees and beneficiaries, and funding your trust.
To learn more about the ways our legal team can help you with trust issues, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 317-684-1100 or contact us online to get personalized one-on-one advice about whether a trust is the best tool for your specific situation. Reach out today to get your trust creation plans underway.
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
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