- How to Create a Trust Fund for Your Grandchildren
Creating a trust fund for your grandchildren can be an effective strategy, not just for the wealthy, but for anyone interested in financial planning. It can provide a level of financial security and a safety net for the future. But doing so requires careful consideration, understanding of different trust types, clear instructions, and in many… read more…
- Trust Fund vs. Will for Estate Planning
Estate planning involves both trust funds and wills to help ensure the smooth transition of assets to your beneficiaries. A trust fund is a legal entity that holds and manages assets on behalf of another individual or organization. A will, on the other hand, is a legal document that directs the distribution of assets after… read more…
- How to Keep Money in the Family With an Inheritance Trust
Inheritance trusts play an important role in long-term wealth management, especially for families looking to preserve assets across generations. While the concept may sound complex, an inheritance trust is simply a legal structure designed to protect your assets and control how they’re distributed to future heirs. Beyond asset protection, these trusts can also provide valuable… read more…
- What Are the Disadvantages of a Trust?
Trusts represent what can be an invaluable tool for managing personal and familial wealth. There are specific uses, drawbacks and benefits of trusts, but it’s important to understand what your specific purpose is before using one. The ability to have a degree of control over your assets, even after death or a potential reduction in… read more…
- 5 Benefits of Living Trusts
A living trust is a legal document that is used in estate planning to manage and distribute your assets after death. Here are five common reasons why you could benefit from a living trust. If you need help planning your estate, a financial advisor can walk you through different steps to protect your assets for… read more…
- Tax Consequences of Terminating an Irrevocable Trust
An irrevocable trust is a legal arrangement that cannot be changed or undone once it’s created. These trusts are often used to shield assets from creditors, provide long-term support for beneficiaries and reduce potential estate taxes. Still, situations can arise that justify bringing an irrevocable trust to an end, such as when its original objective… read more…
- How to Change the Trustee on a Revocable Trust
Trustees play a vital role in the management and direction of revocable trusts. However, sometimes trustees need to be removed and replaced. While some trusts can be easily amended to change trustees, other circumstances may require a petition to be filed in court before a trustee can be removed from power. Here’s what you should… read more…
- Want to Leave Assets to Heirs? IRS Rule Change Should Have You Rethinking Your Irrevocable Trust
If you’ve set up an irrevocable trust, or are thinking about creating one, it may be time to take a closer look. Recent IRS rule changes surrounding estate and gift tax exemptions could significantly affect how much wealth you’re able to pass on to your heirs. For years, irrevocable trusts have been a go-to strategy… read more…
- Does an Irrevocable Trust Protect Assets from Nursing Homes?
Paying for a nursing home can seriously deplete your retirement savings. The government-funded Medicaid program can pay some or all nursing home costs, but it’s restricted to people of very limited financial means. You may be able to qualify for… read more…
- Does a Will Override a Trust?
Wills are an essential part of estate planning, leaving instructions for how to distribute your assets and possessions after you die. Trusts are a common tool in estate planning as well, serving as a way to manage assets both before… read more…
- Pros and Cons of an Irrevocable Funeral Trust
An irrevocable funeral trust is a way of setting money aside to pay for your funeral and burial expenses. While an irrevocable funeral trust can help your loved ones pay for potentially expensive end-of-life costs, it locks up your money… read more…
- How to Protect Trust Assets From a Beneficiary’s Divorce
Trusts can be a useful estate planning tool for passing on wealth to heirs. When naming beneficiaries, it’s important to consider how their spouses may fit into the picture. Specifically, you may wonder how to protect trust assets from a… read more…
- Does a Revocable Trust Protect Assets From a Nursing Home?
Many retirees go to nursing homes as their needs increase, creating a dilemma for protecting their wealth. A revocable trust places your wealth in a tax-protected vehicle you can control until you die. But, unfortunately, it won’t protect assets from… read more…
- Domestic Asset Protection Trusts: Estate Planning
There are a lot of aspects of estate planning that can make it feel daunting. To protect your beneficiaries from creditors, you should consider establishing a domestic asset protection trust or DAPT. Here define DAPTs, talk about how they work… read more…
- How Much Does It Cost to Remove a Trustee?
A trustee is responsible for managing the assets held in the trust on behalf of its beneficiaries. If you’re the beneficiary of a trust, you may find it necessary to remove the trustee if you believe that they’ve committed a breach… read more…
- Can a Trustee Remove a Beneficiary From a Trust?
Creating a trust as part of your estate plan is something you might consider if you’d like to ensure that your assets will be managed according to your wishes after you’re gone. When you establish a trust, you’ll need to… read more…
- Power of Appointment for a Trust or Will
Establishing a trust or will is vital to a well-designed estate plan; you might even use both. However, even the best estate plans can’t anticipate changes in the future or head off new tax legislation. Fortunately, a power of appointment… read more…
- Beneficiary vs. Trustee: Estate Planning Guide
Establishing a trust as part of your financial plan is something you might consider if you have extensive assets or simply want a measure of control over how those assets are managed after you’re gone. When creating a trust, there… read more…
- What Does “FBO in Trust” Mean?
FBO is an abbreviation for the common term “for the benefit of” and it is often used in estate planning. In a trust, the term conveys ownership and value to the trustee. The FBO legal language is there to protect… read more…
- What Is a Declaration of Trust?
A declaration of trust is the document that establishes a legal trust. It also defines the major elements of the entity, such as the beneficiaries and trustees. Once a trust has been established, a declaration of trust can also be… read more…
- Pros and Cons of Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust can help you protect privacy, avoid probate and protects you in case of incapacitation. But you will also have some limitations. That’s because revocable living trusts can be expensive, and they don’t have direct tax benefits.… read more…
- How to Transfer Property into a Trust
If a trust is part of your estate plan, your assets will need to be transferred into it at some point. Most of the time, this is a fairly simple process that requires nothing more than listing the assets as… read more…
- Are Trusts Valid From State to State?
If you include a revocable living trust as part of your estate and then decide to relocate to another state, your trust should remain valid. And although its validity won’t be affected, differing state laws regarding such matters as marital… read more…
- Do You Need a Living Trust Lawyer?
If you plan to create a living trust or already have one, you may wonder if you need a living trust lawyer. The short answer is that you don’t. But just because you don’t technically need an attorney to put… read more…
- How to Put Your Home in a Trust
If you have a residence you would like to pass onto loved ones after your death, and you’re worried about your home going into probate, you may want to put your home in a property trust. If that is something… read more…