Protect Your Estate Through An Asset Protection Trust

djamal-soft السبت، 11 يناير 2014
By Marissa Velazquez


Accumulating assets takes time and it is therefore very essential for you to protect them so that they will not be affected if you are sued or if you file for insolvency among other things. There are many methods of protecting investments with one of them being establishing an asset protection trust. This is an agreement between a trustee and a grantor.

A trustee is the party that is entrusted the task of managing the assets of a grantor for the benefit of beneficiaries. The trust agreement requires grantors to transfer their assets to the trustees they choose. Trusts can either be irrevocable or revocable. They may be included in the will of a grantor to take effect when he or she passes on.

To protect your estate through trusts, you should make sure that they have an independent trustee, have a spendthrift clause and allow distributions at the discretion of the trustee. Revocable trusts can be revoked or changed at any time and this is the reason why the government considers the specific investments to be still included in the taxable estate of the grantor. For this reason, you may have to pay estate taxes on the assets that remain after your demise.

People who have revocable trusts may have to pay income taxes on the gains made by the investments held in them. Generally, revocable trusts turn into irrevocable trusts if a grantor dies or gets incapacitated. If grantors place their assets into irrevocable trusts, they are removed permanently from their estates and transferred to the trusts.

You can ask your trustee to pay income tax and capital gains on the trusts for you. After your demise, any investments you have in irrevocable trusts will not be taxed because they will not be viewed to be part of your estate. You can name a trustee to be solely responsible for managing your investment portfolio or choose to work with him or her at times especially when a major decision has to be made.

You can also choose to assign the trustee full authority to act on your behalf. A trustee can be an individual such as a friend, relative or a professional such as a lawyer or accountant. You can also choose an entity that is experienced in areas such as estate law, taxation and money management to be your trustee.

Your needs and objectives should be the determining factor when establishing trusts. Living trusts are ideal if you want to get your affairs expertly managed after you die or become disabled. With such trusts, you can control your estate and enjoy its income. After you die, the person you have named as the trustee will distribute the assets you leave behind depending on your agreement. In this way, your beneficiaries will not have to go through the probate process.

If you want to leave your estate to your grandchildren, you can opt for generation skipping trusts. An asset protection trust can help you protect your investments, reduce your tax obligations and effectively define how your estate should be managed. An attorney can help you determine which kinds of trusts are appropriate for our needs.




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