What is a Living Trust?
A Living Trust is an agreement between you (the Settlor or Trustor) and an individual or entity (the Trustee) made during your lifetime. The trust agreement determines how assets placed in the Trust will be managed and distributed. Trusts can be Revocable or Irrevocable.
A Revocable Living Trust can provide various benefits to meet lifetime purposes:
- A trust provides for the management of your assets during your lifetime and names someone to assume responsibility for them if you become disabled.
- You determine how your assets are to be managed by providing written instructions in the trust.
- Your estate avoids the expenses and fees of probate upon your death because the trust contains instructions for the distribution of your assets after without court proceedings.
- With special planning, a trust can help lower or avoid estate taxes, as well as allow you to set special provisions for minor or disabled children.
- Revocable Trusts are subject to amendment or termination according to the terms of the trust agreement.
An Irrevocable Trust can provide substantial estate tax savings or shelter assets from the uninsured medical expenses of long term care such as the costs of a nursing home. Such trusts require careful planning.
Irrevocable Trusts, cannot be changed or canceled and have special tax treatment.
Contact us for more information.
“I felt absolutely daunted by the prospect of estate planning and kept putting it off. But once I discovered the highly informative website of Nay and Friedenberg, my anxiety lifted, and I was inspired to give them a call. Over the course of two sessions, Sam patiently guided me, step by step, through the process of creating a living trust. I give thanks for Sam’s legal expertise, his keen attention to every vital detail, as well as his down to earth warmth and compassion. With his help, I created a will that honored the unique dimensions of my life. My experience at the law offices of Nay and Friedenberg turned out to be uplifting and deeply meaningful.”
— Wendy F.