Estate Planning Lawyer for Trusts

Aug 3
13:34

2012

Andrea Avery

Andrea Avery

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Having an estate planning lawyer when dealing with trusts can help in many ways. Consider your options and the services that they can provide to assist you.

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One of the reasons to turn to an estate planning lawyer is to establish a trust. A trust is a financial tool that works somewhat like a third person. The trust can hold some or all of your property and when it does,Estate Planning Lawyer for Trusts Articles this can help to resolve some of your financial concerns regarding taxes. The good think about working with an attorney right now is that you can make decisions now for what happens with what you own at the time of your death. You may have wishes or you may just want to leave behind as much as you can for your heirs. Trusts Solve Double Taxation If two people own a home and property, as well as other financial resources, and one of them dies, it is possible that the estate of that first person will go through probate, reducing its value. However, when the second person dies, the same property is going through probate a second time. To avoid this, many times it is a good idea to work with an estate planning lawyer to establish a trust that will transfer all property to the trust at the time of the death of the first person. The spouse is able to use that property throughout his or her life. Yet, the property does not suffer through probate twice. That's because a trust protects the property within it from the process. Probate is a legal process that can amplify the taxes on any piece of property. This is lessened by the trust. What Can You Use Them For? The nice benefit of these is that there are many ways you can use them. For example, you can leave funds to your grandchildren in them. Those who have wealthy children may not want to pass on the property to their children because it would be taxed twice (at the time of the death of the grandparents and the parents) by the time it got to the children. You can use a trust to pay for the college education of someone. You can use it to donate your property to charity or even set one up to provide for your pet for its life. However, there are complications and limitations on these financial vehicles. They must be set up properly to be effective. Even more worrisome, they must be worded exactly right to avoid the probate taxation process. This means working with an estate planning lawyer is the best possible route to take. The attorney can act as the keeper of the documents including your will so that at the time of your death, this information can be obtained and used to protect your family and your wishes.