Establishing a trust is a great way to protect your assets, since the assets in a trust do not have to go through probate. This means your beneficiaries can receive the assets more quickly, and it minimizes tax losses. But a trust must be set up carefully and maintained properly to provide all these benefits. Talk to an estate planning attorney in El Paso as soon as possible to ensure your trust truly protects your estate and heirs.
Work With an Estate Planning Attorney in El Paso
The first step is to talk to a qualified and experienced attorney. If you skip this step, there’s a much greater likelihood of issues later. Your attorney will help you with each subsequent step and make sure your assets are protected, you understand and can take advantage of every law, and that you’ve minimized all tax obligations.
Choose the Right Trust
There are multiple types of trusts, but broadly speaking, most of them fall into one of three large categories: revocable, irrevocable, and special purpose. A revocable trust is the most flexible and can be changed during your lifetime pretty easily. It also offers you the least protection and the fewest tax benefits.
Irrevocable trusts offer more protection and more tax benefits, but they’re also quite inflexible, so if you make a mistake at the time of setting one up or there’s a major family change that the trust doesn’t account for, there may be very little you can do to rectify it. A special purpose trust does something particular, such as protect your family business or provide for a child with special needs. Your lawyer will help you choose the type of trust that’s right for you.
Choose a Capable Trustee
One of the most important decisions you will make is choosing your trustee. This is the person who will manage all the assets after you pass away or if you should become incapacitated. In some cases, this should be an individual and is often a family member, but in other cases, it’s much wiser to have a fiduciary take over the role. The person you choose must be financially capable, able to remain neutral if a family dispute should arise, and capable of fully understanding what’s expected of them.
Draft the Trust Document
This is a key step where it’s important to have a lawyer on your side. The terms of the trust document must be valid under Texas law and include all the essential elements, but they also must be very clear. If the precise, legally binding language is not used, there could be issues later.
Add Funds to the Trust
Once your trust has been set up, you need to fill it with the assets you want to include. Your lawyer will help you manage your transfers so everything is done legally and there are no issues later.
Contact the Law Office of Albert Nabhan, PLLC in El Paso, TX to protect your estate and your loved ones with careful planning.
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