Family trusts provide asset protection and tax benefits to spouses. Finally, living trusts allow the property to pass outside of probate without court involvement or expense. Each trust has its own unique purposes and advantages. It's important to consider your goals when selecting which type of trust is right for you.
Rigidity: Family trusts are often inflexible, making it difficult to alter the terms once they are established. This rigidity can be problematic if family circumstances change, such as in cases of divorce, remarriage or changes in financial status.
You designate a trustee who will manage the assets for your benefit and the benefit of your chosen beneficiaries. The key distinction is that you retain full control and ownership over the trust and its assets while you are living.
An irrevocable trust offers your assets the most protection from creditors and lawsuits. Assets in an irrevocable trust aren't considered personal property. This means they're not included when the IRS values your estate to determine if taxes are owed.
One of the biggest mistakes parents make when setting up a trust fund is choosing the wrong trustee to oversee and manage the trust. This crucial decision can open the door to potential theft, mismanagement of assets, and family conflict that derails your child's financial future.
Once your home is in the trust, it's no longer considered part of your personal assets, thereby protecting it from being used to pay for nursing home care. However, this must be done in compliance with Medicaid's look-back period, typically 5 years before applying for Medicaid benefits.
The primary purpose of a family trust is to manage assets and distribute them to beneficiaries in a private, controlled, and tax-efficient manner. A family trust aims to: Avoid probate by transferring asset ownership to the trust, which passes directly to beneficiaries upon death.
The trust remains revocable while you are alive; you are free to cancel it, replace it, or make changes as you see fit. Once you die, your living trust becomes irrevocable, which means that your wishes are now set in stone.
Trust checking accounts let trustees conduct transactions efficiently without needing outside funds while making it easy to track the financial activities related to the trust.
Parents and other family members who want to pass on assets during their lifetimes may be tempted to gift the assets. Although setting up an irrevocable trust lacks the simplicity of giving a gift, it may be a better way to preserve assets for the future.
Trusts offer amazing benefits, but they also come with potential downsides like loss of control, limited access to assets, costs, and recordkeeping difficulties.
How to dissolve and close your Family Trust. You must formally wind up (vest) the trust to close down this unused structure. Build this Vesting a Discretionary Trust deed on our law firm's website.
Disadvantages of Family Trusts
If you continue to treat the assets as your own, any trust could be open to challenge as a sham. Additional administration – If you establish a trust, you need to allow for the time and cost involved with meeting the trust's annual accounting and administrative requirements.
A: Property that cannot be held in a trust includes Social Security benefits, health savings and medical savings accounts, and cash. Other types of property that should not go into a trust are individual retirement accounts or 401(k)s, life insurance policies, certain types of bank accounts, and motor vehicles.
A Living Trust is sometimes referred to as a “Family Trust” due to its ability to encompass a family's wealth and property. This name underscores the fact that these trusts are often established to benefit family members, ensuring a smooth transition of assets from one generation to the next.
Funds received from a trust are subject to different taxation rules than funds from ordinary investment accounts. Trust beneficiaries must pay taxes on income and other distributions from a trust. Trust beneficiaries don't have to pay taxes on principal from the trust's assets.
The trustee generally has the authority to withdraw money from a trust to cover the cost of third-party professionals, as well as any other expenses arising as a result of administration.
The primary advantage of setting up a family trust is to ensure your immediate family members get the financial resources they need after you die. Family trusts do an outstanding job of protecting assets such as your home, automobiles, and liquid financial instruments.
Establishing and maintaining a trust can be complex and expensive. Trusts require legal expertise to draft, and ongoing management by a trustee may involve administrative fees. Additionally, some trusts require regular tax filings, adding to the overall cost.
Parents often make the mistake of choosing a trustee based solely on personal relationships without considering their financial acumen, integrity, and willingness to serve. Choosing one of the children is not always the best choice as other beneficiaries may see their role with suspicion.
Once assets are placed in an irrevocable trust, you no longer have control over them, and they won't be included in your Medicaid eligibility determination after five years. It's important to plan well in advance, as the 5-year look-back rule still applies.
Avoid Probate Court
A Living Trust is the most efficient way to pass assets to your heirs after your death. As we discussed above, putting your assets in a Trust bypasses Probate, saving your loved ones the costs associated with it. Probate Court fees can total up to 3 percent of your asset's value.