Category Archives: trusts
How to Modify the Terms of a Trust
Estate planning offers individuals a number of options as they decide how to arrange property management and disposition after death. One of the more popular alternatives that confer a number of tax and financial benefits are trusts. Trusts involve holding an interest in property by one party, a trustee, for the benefit of another,… Read More »
Trust Basics
Trusts are a popular choice when someone is looking to establish an estate plan. Living trusts are the type most well-known because they offer attractive tax advantages, and distribute the assets contained within the trust outside of probate, saving the estate money and time. In addition, the trust as a whole, and its specific… Read More »
Estate Planning for Family Members with Special Needs
Planning for the future of one’s family after death requires considerable thought about what arrangement would be best for each person individually and the group overall. Certainly, estate plans can take a number of forms, which allows anyone a good amount of flexibility when deciding which alternative to choose. However, this process quickly becomes… Read More »
Wills vs. Trusts: Which Is the Better Option?
Making end-of-life decisions, such as drafting a will or trust, naming healthcare surrogates, or designating a guardian, are difficult and avoided by many for as long as possible. While such issues naturally remind a person about his/her mortality, it is unquestionably better to leave loved ones with instructions and guidance about how to treat… Read More »
Revocable Trusts: What Are They and How to Change Them
Developing and executing sound plan to manage one’s assets during his/her lifetime and after death is an important piece of a person’s financial stability. While there are many options for managing finances during one’s life, few permit much flexibility as to what to happens to these assets after death. One exception to this rule… Read More »
Amending and Revoking Wills and Trusts
Thinking about death and the people left behind is not a topic likely to find many takers, but death is the one event in life that no one is able to escape. Additionally, when a person is young and healthy, thoughts of illness and death seem so far away and unrelated to where they… Read More »
Taking Care of Your Pet after Death
When setting up a trust or drafting a will, it is natural to think about how to best provide for the family members left behind, but there may be an additional part of the family that until recently was rarely considered – pets. Pets today are not treated or viewed the way they were… Read More »
New Law Outlines Access to Online Accounts of the Deceased
Until relatively recently, important documents, like wills and trusts, were commonly kept in home safes or bank safety deposit boxes to protect the information from theft, destruction or alteration. A person might have also opted to keep duplicate copies in different locations as a failsafe. However, as technology and people become more and more… Read More »
What Happens to Your Estate If You Don’t Have a Will, or It Fails?
People often assume they have more time to think about what will happen after they die, and consequently, put off making decisions or executing formal documents, like wills and trusts. They may wait until they are very ill to make end-of-life arrangements and decide the easiest and obvious thing to do is leave a… Read More »
What Role Does a Court Have in Managing a Trust?
The person who chooses to create a trust must put a lot of reliance and faith in the trustee to the follow the terms written in the trust instrument, as well as in state law. The trustee, a person or entity in charge of administering the trust property and distributions to beneficiaries, can be… Read More »
