How Can a Trust Help Me?

Everyone wants to ensure their loved ones are cared for. This includes making sure their financial needs are met after we’re no longer around to look after them ourselves. For many people, the best way to ensure their family and friends are taken care of is by leaving them something in a will or estate plan. In some instances, this may take the form of an inheritance, property, or items of value. In some cases, though, simply leaving your loved ones’ money or real estate isn’t the most effective way to secure their future. Depending on your precise circumstances, the most effective way to protect those closest to you is with a trust.

A trust is a special legal arrangement that allows you to shield your assets from creditors, keep your estate out of probate, and, in certain circumstances, reduce the amount of taxes your family may owe. Most importantly, trusts allow you to make sure your loved ones will receive precisely what you want them to receive, with no legal hassles or red tape. With estate attorney J. Anthony Bradley and the legal team at Bradley Law Firm, PLLC, on your side, you can establish a trust that lets you sit back and enjoy your time with family and friends, content in the knowledge they’ll be taken care of for years to come.

What is a Trust?

A trust is a legal entity, similar to a business. When you establish a trust, you become known as the guarantor. As the guarantor, you will appoint someone to manage that trust on your behalf. This person is called a trustee. After you have established a trust, you transfer ownership of certain assets into that trust. These assets are now the legal property of the trust, under the management of the trust. Although the trustee is in charge of overseeing the trust, they must follow set instructions given to them by the guarantor.

The advantage of this arrangement is that, when the guarantor passes away, the property in the trust can be immediately distributed according to the instructions you have laid out as guarantor. Many times, final instructions for how to distribute the assets in a trust are left behind in a will or estate plan. Under normal circumstances, when someone passes away, their estate must go through a process called probate. This is a legal process to ensure their assets will be distributed both according to their wishes and according to state and federal law. Having assets in a trust can help them avoid probate because they are no longer considered part of the estate. This is an excellent strategy for ensuring particularly valuable assets can go directly to your loved ones.

What are Some Advantages of a Trust?

In addition to allowing you to transfer assets easily, trusts have many other benefits for both you, your family, and your loved ones. Some of these additional benefits include but are not necessarily limited to:

• Asset Protection
• Creditor Protection
• Financial Privacy
• Acting as a Tax Shield
• Providing for Minors
• Providing for Disabled Family Members

Remember, assets in a trust are no longer considered part of your estate. This can prevent them from becoming subject to an asset seizure under certain circumstances. Placing finances into a trust can also prevent them from being seized by creditors or subject to certain taxes. For example, depending on the size of your estate, it may be valuable to transfer certain assets into an irrevocable trust. An irrevocable trust is a special type of trust that cannot be modified once it has been established. Irrevocable trusts have certain additional benefits that other types of trusts do not. This can help potentially reduce the estate tax. Doing so prevents your estate from having to pay out extra money and can allow your loved ones to keep a larger portion of your assets.

A trust can also help ensure your family’s financial privacy. Unlike other assets involved in an estate, the terms of a trust are kept private. This can allow you to transfer considerable wealth and assets to your loved ones without it becoming public knowledge or creating hurt feelings within a family.

How can a Trust Benefit My Children or Grandchildren?

Trusts also allow you to provide for minors or disabled family members. Trusts can be established so that their contents are distributed over time rather than all at once. For example, suppose you wanted the beneficiary of your trust to be one of your adult children. You can arrange for the trustee to distribute the entirety of the trust after you’re gone.

However, suppose you wanted the beneficiary to be your minor grandchild, who won’t reach the age of maturity for several years. You can instruct the trustee to make periodic payments to the child’s guardian, or to have the money deposited into an account that the child will be able to access one day. Similar arrangements can be made for disabled adults you wish to benefit.

What Should I Do if I Want to Establish a Trust?

Trusts are an easy-to-use, essential strategy for protecting your assets and ensuring they end up with your family and loved ones, not tied up in red tape. Many people do not know what trusts are, let alone how simple they can be and how greatly they can benefit their families. That’s why J. Anthony Bradley and the team at Bradley Law Firm, PLLC, are here to help. 

With decades of experience in estate law, J. Anthony Bradley loves nothing more than helping the people of Germantown secure their families’ futures. He and his compassionate legal team will work with you and your family to determine the best trust strategy for you. They’ll also assist in establishing trusts according to the plan you develop, and ensuring your wishes are fulfilled at the appropriate time. Don’t spend years worrying about your family’s future — secure it now so you can enjoy your time with them. If you or a loved one needs to establish a trust in Tennessee, don’t hesitate to contact Bradley Law Firm, PLLC today at 901-441-8215.