While planning towards you financial and assets protection may seem like a lot of stress, it is expedient that you have some certain estate plan documents like the living trust. With the help of an estate planning attorney or a living trust attorney in New York, you can have this legal document.
A living trust is an estate planning document which helps you place all your estate property into a trust while you are alive, and allows you to transfer your assets to desired beneficiaries while you are still alive or even when you pass on. When forming a living trust, the beneficiaries named in this document is called a successor trustee and you, the guarantor.
Through trust, you can have anyone whom you solely desire manage and make financial decisions over your assets both while you are alive or dead as well as when you become mentally incapacitated. Living trust also forms the bases of how your estates are shared or given to beneficiaries in Long Island.
Assets can be placed in a Living Trust
Real Estate, houses and Mortgages – to transfer a house or other real estate property to a living trust in New York, a new deed must be made with the local real estate records. Estate taxes issues would also have to be settled. It is always good consult a living trust attorney for estate plans.
Bank and other financial accounts – financial accounts can also be transferred into the living trust, for protection or for ease of transfer to beneficiaries.
There are various types of trust, but majorly the irrevocable and revocable living trust, other types of trust are the special need trust or the spendthrift trust. These two however can still be placed into the irrevocable and revocable trust.
Revocable living Trust
A revocable living trust is a legal entity created to hold the ownership of an individual assets. A revocable living trust covers three phases of the trust maker’s life; mainly while he is alive, possible incapacitation and what happens to his estate after his death. When planning for these phases, it is essential you have a trust law attorney, whom through experience on such legal matters, would guide you, and provide the necessary assistance and backing.
While the trust maker is alive, the trust formation and documents ensures that the trust maker own, control and invest in his assets or estate. Even while a trustee may have appointed with the assets transferred or funded into the trust ownership, the trust maker controls the assets during his life time. He reserves the right to undo a revocable trust, hence, the term revocable. The trust maker can reclaim the assets placed into the trust, sell the assets, or divert to another beneficiary.
A trust law attorney would guide you through the next phase of preparing your trust for the future, when cases of incapacitations may come up. The living trust document should contain a named successor, someone who would step in and take over management of the estates, make medical decisions as well as financial decisions.
Also, living trust is applicable when the trust maker dies. A revocable living trust at this point becomes automatically irrevocable. The trustee now also pays the trust maker’s final bills, debts and taxes, just as he would had it being the he was alive but mentally incapable. A Trust law attorney, ensures that the named successor or beneficiary of the estate and properties gets the remaining assets as wanted by the deceased.
Irrevocable living trust
An irrevocable trust is a trust document that files, established and implemented while the trustier is still alive. This type of trust are irrevocable and are permanent so that the trust once funded is no longer in the possession of the trustier.
There are several reasons to consider this type of trust when planning on your estate. One of the reasons is that, it allows you see that the properties are well transferred to the intended benefactor while you are still alive. Furthermore, it also help you evaluate and supervise the current state of the estate to ensure that their assets are in good hands.
For the sake of permanency of trust, an irrevocable trust ensure the agreement stays the same and unchanged. Through irrevocable trust, you can avoid heavy and excessive taxes for your trustee or benefactor. It is the only trust that avoid estate taxes. To further ensure this is the best trust for you, you should contact a Trust Attorney.