What Laws Or Other Factors Are Considered When Distributing Assets Within The Trust?
Video Summary
What laws or other factors are considered when distributing assets within the Trust? The Trust document indicates who the beneficiaries are, what portion of the Trust or amount they are to receive from the Trust when they’re supposed to receive the Trust, and it’s up to the trustee to administer the Trust. As far as that’s concerned, many times Trust, the trustee is to hold the money, must invest it or whatever to, so it just doesn’t sit there and doesn’t accumulate any income, and then he is obligated to distribute the money pursuant to the provisions of the Tust. The Florida statutes outline the duties of the trustee and what his fiduciary or responsibilities are and when he should do that. So the Trust instrument determines the factors involved as far as distribution of Trust assets. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
Who Else Has Access to The Trust?
Video Summary
Who else has access to the Trust? Well, Trust or not public records, sometimes a certificate of Trust is recorded in the public records, which identifies the trustee and also the powers of the trustee or the successor trustee, but does not reflect who the beneficiaries are. The trustee has access to it, and also the successor trustee as to the contents of the Trust. And the trustee is supposed to send out a notice of Trust or the copy of the Trust or the contents of the Trust to the beneficiaries, and the beneficiaries are entitled to a copy of the Trust. If you’re not a beneficiary, well, you have no right to the informational Trust. Many times I receive calls from folks that say that, well, I’m a beneficiary of that trust. I said, well, how do you know that? Well, so how do I get a copy of it? And it’s very difficult, particularly if the trustee does not provide you with a copy of it, although you believe you are the beneficiary. So if you have any questions about it, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
Which Is Better To Have A Will Or A Living Trust?
Video Summary
Which is it better to have a Will or a Trust? Well, there’s no good answer or there isn’t an answer to that. Without knowing this, your circumstances, as far as everyone should have a Will that says that whatever assets that they have in their name alone, at the time of their death, that they, wish to leave it to and name the beneficiaries. And if you have a Trust, well the Will will simply say, well, I won’t leave everything to my Trust and have it identified in the Will and by date and name, with Trust whenever to set one up. You need to have a reason for doing that. So whenever someone says, well, I want a Trust, I say, well, why do you want a Trust? And if you, particularly have a special needs, a person that you want to provide for, well that’s a good reason to have a Trust or set up a Trust if you have beneficiaries who, suffer from addictions or whatever. You want them to be able to have the money but not have access to it because you’re concerned about it being squandered or even having a Trust for beneficiaries who are minors and you want to provide for their education and have the money held for their health, education and maintenance to reach a certain age.
So these are some of the reasons why you might want to establish a Trust. Many times your folks come in and say, well, I want to avoid probate. And depending on how complex your estate plan is, if it is relatively simple, you can, avoid the expense of setting up a Trust and simply designate beneficiaries on your bank account, execute life estate deeds as far as your real estate’s concerned in order to avoid probate without the necessity of a trust. Also with Wills, anytime a Will does have to be probated. If there are assets, they’re in the decedent’s name. So if you have any questions about having a Will, or preparing a Trust or how to avoid probate without a Trust, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
Are My Assets Protected If I Place Them In A Trust?
Video Summary
Are my assets protected if I place them in a trust? No. This is a often cited myth that if you transfer your assets into a revocable trust, that you prepare for a state planning purposes, that they’re protected from your creditors. The law is that you, if you control the asset, which you do in a revocable trust, that a creditor could then still reach those assets. So that is not a method by which you can protect your assets. So, if you have any questions about doing that, please give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Probate, Trusts, Videos
Will My Assets Be Protected From Creditor Claims, If I Place Them In a Trust?
Video Summary
Will my assets be protected from creditor’s claims if I place my assets in a trust? The answer is no. This is a myth. I often hear this, from time to time whenever I’m doing estate planning, or people call about setting up a trust and that your assets are not protected. The only exception of this, is if you set up an irrevocable trust, meaning you can’t change it and you can’t have any control of your assets, and irrevocable mean you can’t change it. So, I rarely if ever, draft an irrevocable trust, except if it had to do with a life insurance trust and those may be irrevocable. As far as insurance policies are concerned, in this vein, if you are married, you have certain protections. If you hold your assets as husband and wife, this is called tenancy by the entireties, and you can set your bank accounts up with 10 under tenancy by the entireties, or simply if you hold your assets as husband and wife, it creates tenancy by the entireties. And this gives you some asset protection so that if your spouse, if they get a judgment against your spouse and not against both of you, then they cannot attach any assets that you own jointly as husband and wife or tenancy by the entireties. This is different than joint tenants with right of survivorship. If you own it as joint tenants with right of survivorship, then each of you own a one-half interest and the asset half the asset is not protected. If they get a judgment against one of you, they can attach that asset. So, this is a myth and I don’t draft irrevocable trust. Also, as if you do set up a joint trust, as far as husband and wife is concerned, you destroy the tenancy by the entireties that you possibly had before you set it up and, and may subject your, the assets in the trust, your spouse owned or you owned to your creditor’s claim. So don’t set up a trust to try and protect your assets. If you have any questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.
- Published in Estate Planning, Trusts, Videos