A Dallas Trust Attorney Offers Good Reasons For Establishing Trusts

By Martha Kennedy


If you have assets you intend to pass on to loved ones, you need to start planning now. Putting assets in trusts is a great way to ensure that your wishes are heeded and your beneficiaries are protected. You might appoint a Dallas trust attorney to manage your assets. This professional will advise you that trusts are capable of much more than you might have thought.

Trusts can protect beneficiaries from creditors, divorces, and lawsuits. Irrevocable trusts ensure that creditors won't be able to satisfy claims against assets held in the trusts. Assets might include such things as businesses, real estate, cash, and life insurance policies. Once individuals have transferred assets to irrevocable trusts, they no longer have the tax liability for any income assets may generate.

People with special needs children should be especially interested in setting up trusts that ensure children are properly taken care of in the event of a parent's sudden death. Leaving instructions for that care, including how Medicare benefits should be administered, can be critical for the child's well being. A child with special needs may never be able to handle an inheritance without help. You may specify someone to become an independent trustee to oversee financial matters for this child.

If you've got concerns that heirs will use an inheritance unwisely, you could appoint an independent trustee as in the case of a special needs child. You might also put restrictions on heirs as a way of making sure they complete their educations, enter professions, or actively engage in community service. You can restrict access to an inheritance until a person reaches these goals or a particular age. You may direct a certain percentage to be given to charities.

Establishing trusts will ensure that your financial success is preserved. Bad investments and bitter divorces can quickly erode a family fortune. Putting your assets in trusts will allow you to control how that wealth is distributed, who has access to it, and the ways it can, and cannot, be used. This is the best way to ensure that the wealth will still be around for your grandchildren and future generations to benefit from.

Many people worry about what will become of beloved pets once they are gone. You can use trusts to stipulate how you want them cared for. You can name the individual you want to have custody of your pets and instruct the trustee to see that the individual has a sufficient allowance to care for the animals.

Most importantly, you will take much of the decision making process out of the hands of your heirs. It is an unfortunate fact that even close family members can become enemies over inheritances. Your family won't have to decide what you would have wanted. You will have communicated your intentions in a legal and binding way.

If you want to ensure that your financial success is safeguarded, trusts are good options. They can be financially advantageous while you are alive. Once you have passed, you can still control the distribution and maintenance of the family's wealth.




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