What CANNOT Be Held in Trust?
Video Summary
What cannot be held in trust? Well, I think just about everything can be held in trust, particularly all titled assets. If you’re dealing with a lender, a trust company, or a bank that serves as a trustee, or for that matter, any professional trustee or trustee, they may have some reservations about holding real estate, particularly vacant real estate in trust, having it in the trust since if there’s an environmental problem, there may be some question about whether the trustee then becomes liable for the environmental cleanup. So that’s always a question. Some of the other assets that are problematic, I don’t know that if you have cryptocurrency, they don’t title those. That’s simply numeric, and that’s all done through a wallet. So that would be another asset that I don’t know that you would be able to put in the trust. And so the other assets, which are problematic would be if you have gold, they can’t be specifically identified. And now how does the trustee do that as far as, I guess they could hold it, but would probably want to liquidate it to make it more accountable as far as that’s concerned, rather than having to safeguard it. So, there’s a few examples on items that are assets that may not be able to be held in trust, but certainly just about all titled assets can be titled in the name of the trustee for a particular trust, and of course, be governed by the provisions of the trust documents. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
What Are the Benefits Of Having a Life Insurance Trust?
Video Summary
What are the benefits of a life insurance trust? A life insurance trust is used an irrevocable trust wherein a life insurance policy is purchased or is placed in the trust in naming the trustee as the beneficiary in directing that the money be used to pay taxes or to other beneficiaries. And the benefits of that are that if it’s an irrevocable life insurance trust, then the amount that’s in the trust is not includable in your taxable estate. The federal state tax laws have been changed now so that you have to have over $13 million before there’s any federal estate taxes. So this is usually only used for very high-end estate planning as far as that’s concerned, but it avoids the inclusion of the life insurance death benefit in the decedent’s estate and is usually used as a estate planning tool to pay estate taxes. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
What is the Difference Between a Supplemental Trust vs Special Needs Trust?
Video Summary
What is the difference between a Supplemental Trust and a Special Needs Trust? Well, I’m not real sure just what you mean by Supplemental Trust, but I’m assuming it’s a Trust whereby the trustees directed to supplement the income or for the benefit of the beneficiary and they have discretion to give the money to the beneficiary and then the money is later dispersed to that person. Usually at a particular age, there may be some definition as far as giving them the income from the Trust or a specific amount, or it can be simply discretionary on the part of the trustee until the beneficiary reaches a certain age. Many times, you do this for your children so that they don’t receive it at age 18 whenever they become adults. You say you want the trustee to hold it until such time as they’re 25 and use the money up until that time for their health, education, and maintenance so that they can pay for their college education, and then you can direct that a portion of it be dispersed at 25 or whatever age you would like. You can send it out on an incremental basis. Whereas a special needs trust is whenever you have someone who has special needs, and the money is not ever dispersed to the beneficiary since it would disqualify them from any state programs or federal programs where they’re receiving benefits. And so that money must be used independently and so it’s not used for the benefit of the special needs person. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos
Does a Living Trust Avoid Estate and Probate Taxes?
Video Summary
Does a Living Trust avoid Estate Taxes? The answer to the question is no, it does not, and that right now the Estate Tax limitation for the federal government is up over $12 million. And if you’re a resident estate of Florida, when you pass away, there is no Estate Taxes. The time that you would be subject to Estate Taxes if you’re a resident of Florida is if you own any real estate or the Trust owns any real estate outside the state of Florida then wherever the real estate situated may be subject to taxation. Many people set up a Living Trust to avoid probate, and if all the assets are titled in the name of the Trust, then it’s properly set up, then you can avoid probate. A simpler way of avoiding probate is how to retitle your assets so that they automatically pass to whoever your beneficiaries are. You have any questions about how to set your state up to avoid probate, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
Can I Use My Mother’s Power of Attorney, After Her Death to Closes Her Bank Account?
Video Summary
Can I use my mother’s power of attorney after her death to close her bank account? No, you cannot. Powers of attorney terminate at death so you’re not able to use the power of attorney to close your mother’s bank account. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.