When it comes to legacy planning, there are a lot of important decisions to make. One of the most important is deciding how you want your assets and real estate distributed after you die. If you’re looking for a way to manage your assets and ensure they go to the right people, you may want to consider an inter vivos trust, also known as a living trust. Let’s look at what an inter vivos trust is and how it can help you plan for the future.
How Can an Inter Vivos Trust Help Me Plan for the Future?
A trust is simply a legal framework that manages your assets and real estate. If you open and fund a trust, you are called the Grantor. You can choose to act as your own trustee or have someone else act as trustee. The trustee administers your assets to specified beneficiaries.
A trust is a legal way to own property and assets. You put the property and assets into the trust. Then you are no longer the owner of those things. However, an inter vivos, or living, trust allows you to take assets in or out of the trust as you desire.
A living trust helps you plan for your heirs’ future before you die, but more securely with more options for how to distribute those assets.
Legacy Planning
A living trust works a bit like a Last Will and Testament in that it allows you to set up a legal framework to keep track of your assets and liabilities and pass them on to your heirs.
If you want to leave property to someone, you can use a living trust. The trustee will ensure that the right people get the property at the right time and in the right amounts.
Some people are ready to accept a lump sum of money when they turn 18. Others might need a monthly distribution because of drug, spending, or gambling issues. If you have an heir with special needs, they may receive government benefits. Inheriting a lump sum may make them ineligible for their desperately-needed benefits for daily life. Benefits they could lose for disabled or special needs help may include transportation, healthcare, or monthly stipends.
You can choose when and how your assets pass on if you have a living trust. An inter vivos trust puts the timeline and amounts into your hands for your heirs’ future benefit.
Creating and Funding a Trust
If you want to set up a trust, it is essential to hire an attorney. If you write the trust yourself, you might make mistakes that could cause legal problems for you and your family in the future.
Your attorney can help you transfer assets into a trust in different ways. For example, if you have a brokerage account, the brokerage firm can help you move your equities into your trust holdings. Other businesses, such as banks, have procedures for transferring accounts. With an experienced attorney on your side, it is not difficult to fund your trust.
You will need to change the title and draft a new deed to transfer real estate. The property’s title transfers to the trust, and the clerk of court records a new deed for the property in the trust’s name.
You can draw up and fund an inter vivos trust by working with an asset protection and legacy planning attorney who can walk you through each step.
Avoid Probate
After you die, any property or assets you own outside of your trust will go through probate court. An inter vivos trust can help you avoid probate. However, you’ll also need a pour-over will to ensure any assets left out of the trust will automatically go into the trust when you die. In this way, you can ensure that no assets get left out and go through probate court.
Making an inter vivos trust with a pour-over will prevents public knowledge of your assets and will. Unethical creditors and debt collectors often send fraudulent bills to public estates. In addition, heirs sometimes feel less than satisfied with their inheritance when they can see a public record of your estate’s inventory.
It might take years to complete probate and heirs to receive inheritances. In addition, probate can cost a great deal. Going through probate necessitates paying for attorneys, court costs, and any litigation proceedings.
Your estate avoids probate entirely if you make an inter vivos or living trust. Your trust is kept private, and your estate does not become a public record.
In Case Of Emergencies
When establishing a living trust, you should name someone you trust as your durable power of attorney. Your durable power of attorney manages your estate in case of incapacitation or an emergency.
A durable power of attorney can manage your assets while you are unconscious from a medical event and in the hospital.
What Can an Inter Vivos Trust Do For Me?
There are several advantages to creating a living trust. This sort of trust allows you to handle your assets while you’re living and after you’ve passed away. It’s critical to work with an estate planning attorney to create properly worded trust documents to avoid future legal problems.
Just a few of the many benefits of an inter vivos trust include:
- You can establish distribution regulations for your descendants.
- You may avoid probate court by establishing a living trust.
- A pour-over will guarantees that nothing goes undetected.
- Your estate is confidential, and it does not become a public document.
- It might help to reduce your inheritance taxes.
We Can Help
If you want to ensure your assets go to your named heirs and someone manages them in the way you desire, you may consider an inter vivos trust, also known as a living trust. This type of trust can help you avoid probate and provide peace of mind in emergencies. Our legacy planning attorneys at Vail Gardner Law are experienced in creating and funding trusts and can help meet your estate planning goals. Contact us today for a consultation!