Create a Trust with LA Probate Law
One way that you can pass many of your assets on to the next generation is by creating a trust. This estate planning tool comes with the ability to be designed almost any way you want, and it also enables you to establish control over those assets for many years after you are gone. You can put both money and property under the control of a trust, and you can also have either an individual or an agency control the dispersal of funds, or management of the property. Scott Schomer at LA Probate Law can help you to determine whether or not a trust would be the best instrument for your own personal financial goals, as well as being able to help you with the details in the selection and creation of your trust.
Benefits of a Trust
One tremendous benefit of creating a trust is to protect those assets going into it from being taxed heavily by estate taxes. You need to be aware that not every kind of trust qualifies as being tax-free when you die, so you will need the services of LA Probate Law to ensure that it is set up properly and meets all legal requirements to protect those assets under its control from being taxed. Once you let me know exactly what you want to do with your assets after you die, and your goals in giving them to your loved ones or various charitable organizations, we can help you select the ideal form of trust to meet those needs. You also have a great degree of liberty in establishing the rules for the assets under a trust, such as those that might be needed under a spendthrift trust. This kind of trust is often created to control assets of someone who is just not very good with their spending habits. Whether it be because of immaturity, irresponsibility, or perhaps a drug or alcohol problem, this kind of trust allows the trust overseer to dispense the money directly to the creditors, instead of to the individual the trust has been created to help.
Trusts for those Who Need Assistance
Another kind of trust could be created for someone who is not able to work, or unable to provide for themselves. This person may be disabled, or handicapped, or even elderly. A trust can also be created for an individual getting ready to retire, and they do not want their money to interfere or limit aid that could come through Medicare, or from some other agency – even Medi-Cal. When a trust is created for this purpose, LA Probate Law can evaluate the situation and make sure that the form of trust will not prevent or interfere with the aid that is being sought. Generally, this means that the assets under the trust are no longer under the control of the individual seeking the aid, which means it will need to be an irrevocable trust.
Create a Trust for Your Children
A trust may need to be created to ensure that your children, and possibly a surviving spouse, will have their needs met at least until they are able to provide for themselves. If they are young when you die, then they may need to be provided for quite a few years. You are able to create one trust for all of your children, or, if they are spread apart in age, you may want to create more than one to ensure that money will always be there to take care of them. It needs to be remembered, too, that the money in a trust for children becomes fully available to them when they cease to be a minor. Putting money into a trust for your children is also tax deductible up to a certain amount as an annual gift exclusion. At that time, they will be able to decide what happens to the money. You may also want to create a trust to pay for their education. With education costs rising rapidly, this could be a good way to help ensure that they can get a good education. Provisions in the creation of the trust will need to be made concerning the funds just in case they never go to college, do not need the money for it, or only need some of it. LA Probate Law can help you make solid decisions to enable your objectives for the future of your children to be met.
Get Counsel Before Creating a Trust
Care needs to be given when creating a trust. If they are designed with too narrow of restrictions, then it may fail altogether to be able to fulfill the intentions of the creator of the trust. This can happen if the trust is designed to help one person, and then that individual accidentally dies – and there is not any further provision of what to do with the funds in that situation. This means that a trust needs to be designed with some contingencies built in that will cover these kinds of situations. LA Probate Law can help you think through these possibilities, giving your trust not only the ability to meet its original intentions, but also enough flexibility to meet other purposes or goals if the original purposes are removed. It also needs to have some flexibility to be able to meet changes. Problems can occur if the trust, for instance, is set up to provide payments on a monthly basis for a set amount of cash. It is quite possible that the cost of living, or some special need may arise, that would demand that larger amounts need to be dispensed at some times. Legal counsel can help you to choose how to word the controlling documents of the trust to ensure that these kind of unforeseen problems are provided for satisfactorily in advance.
Create a Trust with LA Probate Law
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