Trusts: Getting to Know the Basics
A trust is a legal document that dictates how you want the property held inside the trust to be used. In the world of estate planning, for example, a Florida resident might provide instructions for his trust to pay out a certain amount of money to each of his or her heirs. Alternatively, the trust might be more complicated and dole out a specific amount of money each year over a decade until it was completely depleted.
One of the best things about trusts used in estate planning is the fact that they are extremely flexible documents that can be moulded to suit a lot of different situations. There are also different kinds of trust, which can be selected to fit the needs of the estate planner. When trying to decide what kind of trust is the perfect match for you and your family, contracting the advice and services of a Florida trust planning attorney can be very helpful to ensure that the correct kind of trust is formed given the estate planner’s goals.
Another excellent perk that trusts offer is the ability for heirs to bypass the probate process after one’s death. Your trust document may also have other goals like reducing the tax liabilities of your estate, and protecting your property and the money left for your heirs from creditors.
When a Florida resident creates a trust document, he or she is referred to as the “trustor” or the “grantor.” During the process of drafting the trust, the grantor will have to decide what kind of trust to create, who or what organizations will be the beneficiaries of the trust, what property will be deposited into the trust, and who the trustee will be. Selecting a trustworthy and responsible trustee is very important because this is the person who will — by law — carry out the terms of the trust.
Florida residents can learn more about trusts and what kind of trust options are available to fit their estate planning objectives by getting in touch with an experienced estate planning or trust planning attorney.
Source: For Dummies, “What is a trust?,” accessed Aug. 07, 2015
