- How to Transfer Property Out of a Trust After Death
After a grantor passes away, becoming the trustee can be daunting, especially if you’re responsible for distributing property. Houses are among the most valuable assets in a family for financial and sentimental reasons. Therefore, it’s critical to understand how to… read more…
- Do Revocable Trusts Protect Assets From Creditors?
Revocable trusts, otherwise known as “living trusts,” do not protect your assets from creditors. In fact, they are subject to collections actions and lawsuits, and they are included when third parties evaluate your personal assets. We’ll discuss how it works.… read more…
- How a Medicaid Trust Protects Your Assets
A Medicaid asset protection trust (MAPT) can be useful for estate planning if you believe you or your spouse will need long-term care at some point. Transferring assets to this type of trust can allow you to qualify for Medicaid… read more…
- Inter-Vivos Trusts: How Do They Work?
An inter-vivos trust or living trust is a legal arrangement that allows a person to transfer ownership of assets to a trust while they are still alive. Inter-vivos trusts distribute property to beneficiaries when a person dies and helps an… read more…
- How to Dissolve a Trust in 3 Steps
If you want to end a trust, the process depends on the nature of the entity. A revocable trust can be ended relatively easily, in just three steps. The trust’s founder and owner can typically dissolve a revocable trust at… read more…
- How Long Can a Trust Remain Open After Death?
If you leave a trust to a loved one, it’s probably because you want to ensure that they are taken care of after you are gone. But that very act may cause you to wonder how long can a trust… read more…
- Trustee vs. Executor: What’s the Difference?
Estate planning can be difficult. In addition to the fact that it may bring up some uncomfortable feelings – like grappling with one’s mortality – there is also the fact that it can be a complex legal process. There are… read more…
- How a Non-Grantor Trust Works
One of the most useful estate planning tools is a trust, which can be used to create a legacy of wealth and protecting assets. One question to consider when creating one is whether a grantor or non grantor trust is… read more…
- Charitable Trust vs. Foundation: Key Differences
Charitable trusts and foundations can be used to both secure personal, family or business assets and enable philanthropic endeavors. Each one provides assets, such as securities, with protection from lawsuits and other claims. Trusts and foundations also can offer significant… read more…
- How Does a QTIP Trust Work?
Creating a trust as part of an estate plan can help protect assets and ensure your financial legacy is preserved. If you’re married, you may consider establishing a QTIP trust, which is short for qualified terminable interest property trust. This… read more…
- Certificate of Trust: Estate Planning
When trusts are used as estate planning tools, financial institutions such as banks and brokerages may require written documentation of the trust’s existence before transferring assets into a trust or naming it as a beneficiary. However, they don’t need to… read more…
- Understanding How Disclaimer Trusts Work
When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse typically inherits all of the deceased spouse’s assets. However, this may not be the best approach based on the size of your estate or your tax situation. By using a disclaimer trust, the… read more…
- What Is Trust Decanting?
When you create an irrevocable trust, usually, the terms are set in stone. But what happens when you need to make adjustments due to significant life, law or personal changes? For example, let’s say your trustee is diagnosed with a life-threatening… read more…
- Online Trust Creation: Estate Planning
Online tools allowing anyone to create a trust without the help of an attorney can reduce the money and time consumed in estate planning. Living trusts are widely used in estate planning to avoid probate and reduce costs and delay… read more…
- What Is a Secondary or Contingent Beneficiary?
A secondary beneficiary, also called a contingent beneficiary, is a person or entity entitled to get a distribution of assets from an estate or trust after the estate owner’s death if the primary beneficiary is unable or unwilling to accept… read more…
- Can Your IRA be Placed in a Trust?
A trust can hold many different assets, including your individual retirement account (IRA). Doing so can have benefits for you and your heirs, but it’s important to structure the trust properly. We’ll discuss how a trust works and what you… read more…
- Should You Name a Bank as Trustee of Your Trust?
A trust is an excellent way to bestow wealth, but disbursing money to your beneficiaries hinges on a crucial party: the trustee. Your trustee’s financial knowledge, discretion and accountability will influence how a trust impacts beneficiaries. These duties can be… read more…
- What It Means to Break a Trust
Breaking a trust refers to one party unilaterally dissolving a trust and distributing its assets, either back to the original donor or to the trust’s beneficiaries. This can only happen at the direction of the trust’s creator. If a third… read more…
- What Is the HEMS Standard in Estate Planning? Definition and Examples
The HEMS standard is used in estate planning to guide trustees in how and when they should release funds to a beneficiary. By including HEMS language in a trust, you can exert greater control over how the trust’s assets are… read more…
- What Is a Gift in Trust?
You’ve worked hard your entire life and you’re hoping to pass the fruits of your labor onto your children or grandchildren and not the Internal Revenue Service. If that’s the case, you may be interested in a gift in trust,… read more…
- Estate vs. Trust: What’s the Difference?
Trusts and estates are the two main legal structures for transferring assets to your heirs and beneficiaries. Each works in critically different ways. Estates make a one-time transfer of your assets after death. Trusts, meanwhile, allow you to create an ongoing… read more…
- Family Trust vs. Living Trust: What Are the Differences?
One of the common estate planning tips for investors is to get a trust to protect their assets. However, that advice is hardly specific enough. There are many types of trusts, and each has its unique pros and cons. In… read more…
- What a Pet Trust Is and How It Works
When it comes to pets and estates, there are two main rules to understand. First – and sadly for the eccentric among us – you cannot leave money to your pet. The law says that animals are property, and one piece… read more…
- Crummey Letter: Trust Definition and Requirements
Crummey trusts can be a useful estate planning tool for high-net-worth individuals who are hoping to minimize gift and estate taxes. The Crummey power confers the right to withdraw assets from the trust to its beneficiaries, though this power isn’t… read more…
- Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts and Taxes
An intentionally defective grantor trust, or IDGT, is a way of shifting tax burdens for very wealthy households. With this structure, you can create a trust that leaves wealth to your heirs while minimizing gift, estate and income tax liability. Find out how the IDGT works and what tax advantages may exist if you decide… read more…