- 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…
- What Is a Qualified Perpetual Trust?
Trusts can be a useful tool in estate planning when you want to leave specific instructions about how your assets should be managed during your lifetime and after you pass away. One type of trust, the qualified perpetual trust, can be used to pass assets down to your beneficiaries decade after decade. Also known as… read more…
- What Does a Trust Protector Do?
Establishing a trust is something you might consider if you’d like to take estate planning beyond a simple will. Naming a trustee is an important part of the trust creation process but you might find it helpful or necessary to name a trust protector as well. Trust protectors serve as intermediaries between the trustee and… read more…
- How Do Offshore Trusts Work?
An offshore trust is a tool used for asset protection and estate planning that works by transferring assets into the control of a legal entity based in another country. Offshore trusts are irrevocable, so trust owners can’t reclaim ownership of transferred assets. They are also complicated and costly. However, for people with greater liability concerns,… read more…
- Revocable Living Trust vs. Will: Key Differences
Revocable living trusts have become an increasingly popular tool in estate planning. They’re often used by households to avoid the probate process, which in some estates can save heirs both time and money. However, while trusts are a popular option, often a will is the better one. That’s particularly true for simple or relatively small estates.… read more…
- Does a Living Trust Need to File a Tax Return?
A living trust is a common solution for many people with estate planning needs. However, few people know about its tax-filing requirements. Generally, any trust with at least $600 in annual income must file a federal return. But for a… read more…
- Is an EIN Required for a Trust After Death?
Losing a family member can be an emotional and trying experience for everyone affected. Unfortunately, tax problems brought on by a trust can sometimes be an added stressor. Because grantors don’t always acquire an employer identification number (EIN) for their trusts, their heirs or beneficiaries may have to do so after the fact. If the grantor… read more…