YouCanTrustAllied - 5 Reasons to start setup trusts at any age

Trust funds aren’t just for the wealthy. When you hear the word trust fund, you might think of the uber-wealthy giving their kids a big chunk of cash on their 21th birthday. Trust fund is a kind of estate planning tool, and anyone can use it to ensure that their assets are transferred to friends, family members or charities according to their own wishes.
 
There are many reasons to set up a trust, including avoiding probate, providing for your family after your death, and stating exactly how, and when, your descendants receive their inheritance. But not everyone should establish a trust -- for some, a standard will be a better choice. Although do-it-yourself kits are available, the applicable laws are complicated, and anyone considering a trust should consult a lawyer. But before calling your attorney, read on to learn a bit more about the advantages of a trust. Let’s find out more!
 
1. Your Personal and Financial Matters Remain Private
Since there is generally no Probate Court process when you have a living Trust, there is no need to make your assets or your personal wishes public. On the other hand, a Last Will and Testament and its contents are made public when they enter Probate Court. Since the Trust forgoes the need for Probate, the contents of the transfer stay private. Additionally, most transfers take place in our office within weeks. 
 
2. You Maintain Control of Your Finances After You Pass Away
With a Living Trust, you can continue to protect your family, even after you’re gone: delay distributions until children reach a certain age or graduate; make sure money doesn’t fall into the hands of creditors and ex-spouses; make sure that special needs children still qualify for benefits. 
Many people are unaware that you do not have to distribute your entire estate immediately after death. Using a Living Trust, you can hold off on distributions until your children reach a certain age, or achieve a milestone (i.e. graduation from college, marriage etc.). A trust can also be used to ensure that your children don’t lose their inheritance due to substance abuse, creditor problems, or divorce. 
In a more drastic example, we once handled a case where a father was in an accident with his two sons. The father was killed instantly. The youngest son suffered severe handicaps. Half of the father’s property went to the youngest son disqualifying him from desperately needed medical benefits. The remainder of the property went to the older son who was not ready for the responsibility and dropped out of school. Sadly, this could have easily been prevented with a living Trust.
For this reason, it is particularly important to have a properly drafted Trust when you have young children who may face unpredictable (and unknowable) challenges as they grow up.
 
3.Dividing Assets and Property
Having what's known as a living trust can help determine how difficult-to-divide assets should be split up. In the case of real estate, for example, a living trust can be highly advantageous. With a house, a living trust offers more control than a will in spelling out how such property should be transferred after the grantor's death. A living trust can detail who inherits the property, as well as who has the right to use it and under what conditions; whether the property can be sold, and if so, how the proceeds should be distributed; and how the inheritors of the house can buy each other out if they choose to do so. This way a grantor can ensure that each beneficiary receives equal access to the property. Other assets that could be placed in a trust might a boat or a car that are intended to be used by all of the beneficiaries, or any other property that the grantor might want them to share.
 
4. Prevent A Conservatorship
If you become incapacitated, then a Living Trust can protect your family from undergoing a conservatorship. Conservatorship means that the representative appointed by the court has the right to manage the financial affairs of the incapacitated person for him. This feature of a Trust is especially comforting to families in times of difficulty since they do not have to worry about going to court and requesting access to the incapacitated person’s finances. A Trust gives the family one less problem to face when someone becomes sick.
If the Trust is set up as an individual Trust, then the Successor Trustee can take over and manage the assets. If the Trust is owned by a married couple, then the second spouse will step in as the acting Trustee. It is also prudent to have a Durable Power of Attorney for Finances in addition to a Living Trust to grant the new acting Trustee the power to manage any property and finances outside of the Trust.
 
5. Flexible Distribution
Trusts offer flexibility in how assets are distributed. The grantor of a trust can set out in detail how his or her estate is to be distributed to beneficiaries. For beneficiaries who are unable to effectively manage money or who can't be relied on to make sound financial decisions, a trust gives the grantor the option of disbursing funds to the beneficiary in smaller, regular amounts instead of one large lump sum, so the beneficiary can't spend all the money at once. The grantor can also specify how the funds can be spent, for example on rent, food, healthcare, and other necessary or unexpected expenses.
 
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