New York Living Trust Lawyer
When you leave behind a gift for your loved ones, you want them to be able to enjoy that gift quickly, with minimal expense or delay. Living Trusts are an excellent way to ensure that your family will receive the assets you’ve provided for them quickly without the need to go through the process of probate. Speak with an experienced New York living trust lawyer at Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner & Martuscello, LLP about whether a revocable living trust could be a good solution for your own estate.
What is a revocable living trust?
The revocable living trust is an estate planning instrument that provides the benefits of a trust to your heirs, while still permitting you to control your assets during your lifetime. When you use a Will to provide for your heirs, they must first submit the Will to probate. There are times that this process can cost thousands of dollars in statutory fees, court costs, and attorneys’ fees, and it regularly lasts a year or longer. With a living trust, administration can occur quickly, bypassing the probate process and court system entirely. Trusts also offer added privacy for grantors and beneficiaries since, unlike Wills, they do not become public record.
Living trusts also offer you a way to determine how your assets are managed in the event that you become incapacitated. Unlike a Will, trusts offer you the opportunity to detail your wishes for your care should you become incapacitated, while also allowing you to choose someone you can count on to manage your finances as trustee, and bypass the need for court involvement in the form of a guardianship.
How are revocable living trusts created?
In a basic trust, the grantor provides the funds for the trust, to be managed by the trustee, for the benefit of the beneficiary. With a revocable living trust, the grantor transfers title of their assets to the trust, but continues to have access to and control over those assets until their death. Upon passing, the successor trustee chosen by the grantor to administer the trust will distribute the funds to the beneficiaries according to the grantor’s wishes as they are laid out in the trust documents.
An irrevocable trust may be a solution for large estates
While revocable living trusts can provide many cost-saving benefits, they do not provide relief from the estate tax. If you have a substantial estate that may be subject to this sizeable tax, consider creating an irrevocable living trust. Placing assets in an irrevocable living trust can protect those assets from being subject to the estate tax, and will prevent the income they generate from being attributed to you as taxable income. Unlike the revocable living trust, however, grantors are not able to access the funds placed in an irrevocable living trust after creation. An attorney can help you decide if a trust would best fit your needs and if so, what form of trust would be best for you, as well as what other forms of asset protection may be available.
Seek Experienced, Expert Assistance in Your New York Estate Planning
Make sure that your estate plan is expertly crafted, so that you can rest easy knowing your loved ones will be cared for in the manner you intended after you are gone. Contact a knowledgeable, detail-oriented New York living trust lawyer at Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner & Martuscello, LLP for a consultation on your estate planning needs at 845-331-4100 in Kingston or 845-236-4411 in Marlboro.
