North Reading Trusts Lawyer 

REVOCABLE AND IRREVOCABLE TRUSTS TAILORED TO MEET YOUR NEEDS

Attorney Roberta A. Schreiber, who has specialized in estate planning for more than thirty years, has extensive experience in drafting Trusts. One of the most important parts of an estate plan is a Trust.

The Trust is not just for the very wealthy. If you have three children under the age of eighteen and something happens to you and your spouse, do you know how your estate will be managed for their benefit and when your children will be entitled to a distribution from your estate? If you have simple Wills, or no Wills, the answer is that your children's legal Guardian will manage the money and real estate, doing their best to guess what you would do in their place. As each child reaches the age of eighteen, they may demand their share of your estate. Do you think this is a good plan? Of course not. And who will be named as their Guardian?

With no Will, members from both sides of the family may become involved in a lengthy Probate Court proceeding to determine how your children will be cared for and how your estate will be managed. What can you do to prevent this? First, be sure that you have a Will that names your children's Guardian. Next, establish a Revocable Trust, also known as a Living Trust, which may be funded during your lifetime or after your death. If you establish and fund the Trust during your lifetime, it may not be necessary to probate your Will.

You, or you and your spouse, may be the original Trustees and beneficiaries of the Trust. After you, or you and your spouse, are deceased, the Successor Trustee or Trustees chosen by you will manage the trust funds for the benefit of your children. The Successor Trustee may be a parent, a sibling, any other family member, or a friend.

There may be more than one Successor Trustee. Many married couples choose a family member from each side of the family to serve as Successor Co-Trustees. The Successor Trustees will follow your instructions about the use of the trust funds. Your instructions may be as detailed as you wish. In addition to paying for your children's living expenses, medical expenses, and educational expenses, the Successor Trustees may be directed to purchase a car for a child, to give a child the down payment to purchase a home, or to pay for a wedding.

The Trustees will manage the trust funds for the benefit of your children until they reach the age chosen by you to receive an outright distribution of their share of the trust funds. You may direct the Successor Trustees to make outright distributions in installments, such as one-third at age 25, one-third at age 30 and the remainder at age 35. When all of your children have received the final distribution of their share of the trust funds, the Trust will terminate. All of this will be accomplished without any involvement with the Probate Court. As a result, there will be no invasion of your family's privacy, no time at which money will be unavailable for your children's needs, and no delays for bureaucratic procedures.

The cost of administering your estate will be greatly reduced. And there will be no uncertainty about how your estate should be managed for the benefit of your children after your death. Those family members or friends chosen by you will have detailed instructions about how they should manage your children's inheritance for their benefit. Your children will be cared for, as directed by you, and they will receive an outright distribution of trust funds at an appropriate age.

Trusts are a critical part of estate planning if you wish to avoid the need to probate your Will. If you, or you and your spouse, transfer all of your non-retirement bank and investment accounts, your home, and other real estate owned by you to your Revocable Trust prior to your death, it will not be necessary to probate your Will. Establishing one or more Trusts is necessary if your goal is to minimize or eliminate liability for estate taxes. The same is true if you have a disabled child who will need care and supervision throughout his or her adult life.

The Trust is also an excellent vehicle if you want to make gifts to your grandchildren or leave a substantial portion of your estate to charity after your death. There are many different types of Trusts. See the Article titled "What Type of Trust is Right for Me?" for detailed information about basic and specialized Trusts and trust administration. After carefully reviewing your financial situation and personal goals, Roberta can advise you of the appropriate Trust or Trusts that will achieve your Estate Planning objectives. She can assist you with the following:

• Revocable Trusts
• Irrevocable Trusts
• Special Needs Trusts
• Irrevocable Insurance Trusts
• Marital Trusts
• Generation Skipping Trusts
• Charitable Remainder Trusts
• Asset Protection Trusts

A Trust can be established while you are living, or the Trust may be created at your death under the terms of your Last Will and Testament. Trusts created under the terms of your Will are known as "Testamentary Trusts". Testamentary Trusts are rarely used because the Last Will and Testament must be allowed by a Probate Court Judge in order to create the Trust. While the Testamentary Trust is in effect, all of the Trustee's actions are carried out under Probate Court supervision and the Trustee must file a yearly accounting with the Probate Court. The Revocable Trust, also known as a Living Trust, is a far better choice. In most situations, the creator of the Revocable Trust, known as the "Settlor" is both the original Trustee and beneficiary. This means that if you choose to establish a Revocable Trust, you will maintain control of your assets during your lifetime.

You may change the terms of the Trust as often as you wish or you may terminate the Trust. In that case, the trust assets will be distributed back to you. If you become incapacitated, the Successor Trustee chosen by you will manage the trust assets for your benefit. After your death, the assets held in the Trust will either be managed for the benefit of those beneficiaries named by you or the assets will be distributed outright to those beneficiaries. A married couple may establish one joint Revocable Trust, naming themselves as the original Trustees and beneficiaries, and their children or other family members or friends as the contingent beneficiaries. If the couple wishes to minimize liability for estate taxes, each of them will establish their own Trust. In both cases, the spouses will name those family members and friends who will serve as Successor Trustees, and they will name their children, other family members, or friends as the contingent beneficiaries.

The assets held in your Revocable he Trust are not considered to be part of your probate estate. If you hold all of your assets in a Revocable Trust at the time of your death, there will be no need to probate your Will. The Successor Trustee will simply follow your instructions in the Trust without any interference from the Probate Court. The Trust offers many different benefits, depending on the specific type of Trust used. Some benefits of Trusts include probate avoidance, providing for minor or disabled children, minimizing liability for estate taxes, and asset protection, including the protection of assets from nursing home costs. To discuss your specific needs with an experienced estate planning lawyer, please contact us.