Generally, the goal of creating a trust is to make the inheritance process smoother, easier, and private. People establish a trust for their own financial purposes or to financially protect their family members. Many different types of trusts exist that can accommodate the different reasons people have. At Prestige Law Office, LLC, the firm's trust attorney in Wisconsin helps you figure out which trust will work best for you and your needs and then guides you through the entire process, which––depending on the amount and extent of assets and the instructions accompanying them––can be either a relatively quick or enduring one.
To learn more about a trust and if you will need an estate planning lawyer in Wisconsin to help you with it, contact me at 414-459-1632 to schedule a consultation.
Trusts as Part of an Estate Plan in Wisconsin
A trust is a way for a property owner to pass their assets to someone else to protect the assets and to avoid the probate process, if applicable. The trustor, also referred to as the settlor or trust maker, is the owner of the property and transfers it to the trustee. The trustee is the one who manages the property for the benefit of someone else, known as the beneficiary. The beneficiary is a person or entity for whom the trust was established.
Trusts can have multiple beneficiaries.
As part of an estate plan, a trust can be used to minimize estate taxes (for someone with high assets). But they offer other benefits, too, if well-crafted. A trust can keep your assets private even when you die because a trust does not need to go through probate, and probate is a matter of public record. Further, a trust can protect assets from creditors or help beneficiaries who cannot manage money well. Whatever your need is for a trust, the firm's estate planning lawyer can help make sure the trust you choose and the way it is drafted benefits you and the intended beneficiaries.
Types of Trusts in Wisconsin
Specific types of trusts that people can use to protect their assets or pass their property on to someone else come in many forms. However, all of these trusts are either revocable or irrevocable.
Revocable trusts, also known as living trusts, allow the settlors or grantors to continue to alter the assets in the trust. They can even revoke the trusts entirely. This gives the grantors far more control over their assets. With that control, though, comes a downside: because the grantors still have access to their assets in the trusts that they created, their creditors can often reach into the trusts to satisfy debts owed to them.
Irrevocable trusts, on the other hand, cannot be changed or revoked once the settlor creates one. The settlor relinquishes control over the assets in the trust. Creditors cannot touch those assets once they are removed from your estate. Often, the settlor gains in terms of tax and probate avoidance. Moreover, an irrevocable trust can help you qualify for Medicaid if you need nursing home care, while protecting your assets for future generations.
Examples of Different Types of Trusts
Just to give you an idea of what types of trusts there are to address your specific needs, here's a list of some of the most common trusts:
- Asset protection trust for physicians, business owners, and wealthy individuals;
- Charitable trust;
- Constructive trust;
- Special needs trust; and
- Spendthrift trust.
You can also create a trust specifically for your pets, farmland, and even your gun collection.
Benefits of a Trust in Wisconsin
As mentioned, trusts are beneficial to avoid probate and taxes. By using a trust (in addition to a will or in lieu of a will), the trust's assets pass directly to the trust's beneficiary when the settlor dies. This means that the assets do not go into the settlor's estate – they are transferred inter vivos, or between living people. As such, certain estate taxes do not apply to trusts. Using a trust to pass property to your heirs can have tax advantages and can avoid the potential legal complications of dividing your estate or dealing with a contested will.
A trust also gives you the ability to create instructions and conditions for asset distribution upon your death–giving you control over your assets even when you are not here. So, if you have a beneficiary who you want to finish college before disbursement of funds or if you want only a certain amount of funds disbursed at different times of the beneficiary's life, you get to decide those things. Further, you can identify a successor trustee––someone you know who can manage the trust according to the terms and conditions.
An Estate Planning Customized Plan
An estate planning customized plan will leverage the full benefits of the law to meet your individual objectives. Because there is more to estate planning than wills and trusts, Prestige Law Office's estate planning customized and comprehensive plans will help you develop and implement a plan that will help transfer ownership structure of your estate during life and after death in a judicious, tax-efficient, and pragmatic manner tailored to your unique objectives. Additionally, the firm's estate planning customized plans include business succession.
Business succession: If you are a business owner, it is paramount that you start thinking and planning for business succession. For instance, a business succession plan ensures that a smooth transition from you to the next leader of your choice guarantees continuity of leadership if you are unable to run the business. A business succession plan will keep your business running in your absence. Moreover, a business succession plan will likely prevent conflict among family members about who should take over the business in your absence.
Contact a Trust Attorney in Wisconsin Today
Whether you have some or big assets, a trust may be just the thing you need to manage those assets and to decide what's done with them upon your death. Give the firm a chance to help prepare your estate planning by scheduling a consultation and taking the first step in securing your future. Call 414-459-1632 to get started and to schedule a consultation.