If you want to do all you can to protect your estate, then it may be smart to set up a trust. A trust should be considered to be an essential part of your estate plan because of the potential benefits. However, most estate plans don’t actually establish a trust, even though they’re fairly easy to set up.
The truth is that most estate plans do benefit from trusts. Some of the reasons to have trusts include:
- To avoid court-supervised probate
- To manage and control investments and spending
- To protect beneficiaries against waste and poor judgment
- To protect premarital assets from divorcing spouses
- To help plan for business succession
- To provide a structured income
- To reduce income taxes or to prevent transfer or estate taxes
With a trust, you can do a lot to protect your assets as well as your beneficiaries. You won’t have to worry about your assets being misused, and there are trusts to help you avoid unfair or excessive taxation.
You may not be sure what kind of trust you need, and that’s ok. There are multiple types, such as special needs trusts, pet trusts and others. Your attorney will talk to you more about the trusts that would be best for your situation and the kinds that may not apply to you.
Our website has more information about many kinds of trusts, such as testamentary trusts, revocable trusts and express trusts. Whether you need information about setting up a trust or need to know more about trust administration and your rights, our site has more for you to discover.