Klitzman Law Group, PLLC

How Do You Plan for the Death of a Spouse?

“Beneficiary designations, tying up loose ends, reporting last wishes—here’s what you can do now.”

The COVID pandemic has become a painful lesson in how important it is to having estate plans in order, especially when a spouse becomes sick, incapacitated, or dies unexpectedly. With more than 400,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus, not every one of them had an estate plan and a financial plan in place, leaving loved ones to make sense of their estate while grieving. This recent article from Market Watch titled “How to get your affairs in order if your spouse is dying” offers five things to do before the worst occurs.

Start by gathering information. Make all of your accounts known and put together paperwork about each and every account. Look for documents that will become crucial, including a durable power of attorney, an advanced health care directive and a last will. Gather paperwork for life insurance policies, investment portfolios and retirement accounts. Create a list of contact information for your estate planning attorney, accountant, insurance agent, doctors and financial advisors and share it with the people who will be responsible for managing your life. In addition, call these people, so they have as much information as possible—this could make things easier for a surviving spouse. Consider making introductions, via phone or a video call, especially if you have been the key point person for these matters.

Create a hard copy binder for all of this information or a file, so your loved ones do not have to conduct a scavenger hunt.

If there is an estate plan in place, discuss it with your spouse and family members so everyone is clear about what is going to happen. If your estate plan has not been updated in several years, that needs to be done. There have been many big changes to tax law, and you may be missing important opportunities that will benefit those left behind.

If there is no estate plan, something is better than nothing. A trust can be done to transfer assets, as long as the trust is funded properly and promptly.

Confirm beneficiary designations. Check everything for accuracy. If ex-spouses, girlfriends, or boyfriends are named on accounts that have not been reviewed for decades, there will be a problem for the family. Problems also arise when no one is listed as a beneficiary. Beneficiary designations are used in many different accounts, including retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities, stock options, restricted stock and deferred compensation plans.

Many Americans die without a will, known as “intestate.” With no will, the court must rely on the state’s estate laws, which does not always result in the people you wanted receiving your property. Any immediate family or next of kin may become heirs, even if they were people you with whom you were not close or from whom you may even have been estranged. Having no will can lead to estate battles or having strangers claim part of your estate.

If there are minor children and no will to declare who their guardian should be, the court will decide that also. If you have minor children, you must have a will to protect them and a plan for their financial support.

Create a master list of digital assets. These assets range from photographs to financial accounts, utility bills and phone bills to URLs for websites. What would happen to your social media accounts, if you died and no one could access them? Some platforms provide for a legacy contact, but many do not. Prepare what information you can to avoid the loss of digital assets that have financial and sentimental value.

Gathering these materials and having these conversations is difficult, but they are a necessity if a family member receives a serious diagnosis. If there is no estate plan in place, have a conversation with an estate planning attorney who can advise what can be done, even in a limited amount of time.

Reference: Market Watch (Jan. 22, 2021) “How to get your affairs in order if your spouse is dying”

How Do I Disinherit My Child?

“When these types of situations arise, there are many steps you can take to avoid your will from being contested by individuals who believe they are entitled to receive your assets.”

Disinheriting a child or any person trying to gain access to your assets after you have died requires skilled estate planning. The things that can be done before you die to protect your estate are the subjects of a recent article “Disinheriting a child” from Westfair Online. It should be noted that if you anticipate a challenge to your will, or if you suspect claims will emerge after you pass, it will be wise to prepare your estate and family members for the legal, financial and emotional aspects of an estate battle.

Here are some of the steps to consider.

Avoiding probate. The probate estate includes assets that are controlled by your Last Will and Testament on the day you die. It does not include assets where there are named beneficiaries. Such assets pass directly to beneficiaries.

Before a will can be executed, it must go through probate. Part of the probate process is the notification of any individuals who may be entitled to receive assets. If you pass away without a will, the estate still needs to be probated and those individuals must still be provided with a notice of your passing and the distribution of your assets. If you had intended to disinherit someone and did not take the necessary steps, it is as if you have issued an invitation to them.

Using a revocable trust. Trusts are used to remove assets from probate estates. A revocable trust is a trust that allows you to maintain complete control over the assets in the trust, while you are living. When you die, the trust does not go through probate and no one needs to be notified of the trust’s existence or its terms, if you so specify and state law permits. Your wishes and assets may remain private. This is especially useful, if you want to disinherit someone.

The revocable trust is not immune from contest, but it makes the challenging more difficult.

Changing titles to joint ownership and naming beneficiaries. Changing your bank, investment and real estate property ownership to joint ownership is a way to avoid probate and have assets pass directly to your intended beneficiaries. However, there are complications to this strategy. If the person you add to an account has money problems, your assets are now available to their creditors. If the person on the account goes through a divorce, your assets are legally available to their spouse. And if the joint owner should die before you, any protection you may have obtained is gone. A trust may be a better solution.

Review your retirement plans and any other assets that allow you to name a beneficiary to ensure that the person who will receive these assets is still the person you want.

What about a no-contest clause? It seems like a simple solution—by including a no-contest clause, often referred to as an “in terrorem” clause, anyone who seeks to contest the will immediately forfeits any distribution to that person, if they are not successful in the will contest. However, what if they are successful in the will contest?

Talk with an experienced estate planning attorney about these and other strategies to defuse a disinherited person’s potential claims. Disinheriting a child sparks many estate battles, so preparations need to be made to protect the family and the estate.

Reference: Westfair Online (Jan. 26, 2021) “Disinheriting a child”

Can You Amend a Power of Attorney?

“If the durable power of attorney can't be transferred, what needs to be done to establish a new durable power of attorney for my aunt despite her mental incapacity?”

The situation facing one family is all too common. An aunt is now incapacitated with severe Alzheimer’s disease. Her brother has been her agent with a durable power of attorney in place for many years. In the course of preparing his own estate plan, he decided it’s time for one of his own children to take on the responsibility for his sister, in addition to naming his son as executor of his estate. The aunt has no spouse or children of her own.

The answers, as explained in a recent article “Changing the agent under a durable power of attorney” from My San Antonio Life, all hinge on the language used in the aunt’s current durable power of attorney. If she used a form from the internet, the document is probably not going to make the transfer of agency easy. If she worked with an experienced estate planning attorney, chances are better the document includes language that addresses this common situation.

If the durable power of attorney included naming successor agents, then an attorney can prepare a resignation document that is attached to the durable power of attorney. The power of attorney document might read like this: “I appoint my brother Charles as agent. If Charles dies or is incapacitated or resigns, I hereby appoint my nephew, Phillip, to serve as a successor agent.”

If the aunt would make her wishes clear in the actual signed durable power of attorney, the nephew could relatively easily assume authority, when the father resigns the responsibility because the aunt pre-selected him for the role.

If there is a clause that appointed a successor agent, but the successor agent was not the nephew, the nephew does not become the agent and the aunt’s brother can’t transfer the POA. If there is no clause at all, the nephew and the father can’t make any changes.

In September 2017, there was a change to the law that required durable power of attorney documents to specifically grant such power to delegate the role to someone else. The law varies from state to state, so a local estate planning attorney needs to be asked about this issue.

If there is no provision allowing an agent to name a successor agent, the nephew and father cannot make the change.

Another avenue to consider: did the aunt’s estate planning attorney include a provision that allows the durable power of attorney to establish a living trust to benefit the aunt and to transfer assets into the trust? Part of creating a trust is determining who will serve as a trustee, or manager, of the trust. If such a clause exists in the durable power of attorney and the father uses it to establish and fund a trust, he can then name his son, the nephew, as the trustee.

Taking this step would place all of the aunt’s assets under the nephew’s control. He would still not be the aunt’s agent under her power of attorney. Responsibility for certain tasks, like filing the aunt’s income taxes, will still be the responsibility of the durable power of attorney.

If her durable power of attorney does not include establishing a living trust, the most likely course is the father will need to resign as agent and the nephew will need to file in court to become the aunt’s guardian. This is a time-consuming and slow-paced process, where the court will become heavily involved with supervision and regular reporting. It is the worst possible option, but it may also be the only option.

If your family is facing this type of situation, begin by speaking with an experienced estate planning attorney to find out what options exist in your state, and it might be resolved.

Reference: My San Antonio Life (Jan. 25, 2021) “Changing the agent under a durable power of attorney”

Can You Be Forced to Inherit a Timeshare?

“Many timeshare contracts include a perpetuity clause, which means the contract and all its fees and obligations are yours for life. It may not end there.”

Ask anyone who ever purchased a timeshare and changed their mind about it. Getting rid of a timeshare can be problematic. However, imagine if your parents purchased a timeshare and left it to you, with all the financial obligations? Some timeshare companies are now trying to make people continue to pay after they have died, warns a cautionary article “How to Avoid Inheriting a TImeshare You Don’t Want” from KSL-TV

One woman’s parents loved their timeshare. They travelled to one for skiing, another to relax in the sun, and others according to availability and their travel plans. The entire family went on trips and all enjoyed the flexibility. However, when both parents passed away just a few months apart, the timeshare company started sending letters demanding payment. The siblings didn’t want any part of it.

There had not been any discussions with their parents about what would happen to the timeshare. One of the daughters decided to put the monthly fee onto her credit card to be paid automatically, thinking this would be a short-term issue. When the timeshare company did not respond to the children’s attempt to contact the company to shut down the account, she had the automatic payments stopped. A collection notice showed up and demanded payment immediately.

However, is the family legally obligated to pay for the parental timeshare?

If you die owning a timeshare, it does become part of your estate and obligations are indeed passed onto the next-of-kin or the estate’s beneficiaries. However, they do not have to accept it, in the same way that anyone has the right to refuse any part of an inheritance. No one is legally obligated to accept something just because it was bequeathed to them. This is known as the right to disclaim, but it’s not automatic.

A local estate planning attorney will know how your state governs the right to disclaim. Generally speaking, a disclaimer of interest must be filed with the probate court, stating that you reject the timeshare. There are time limits–in some states, you have only nine months after the death of a loved one to file.

When the next-of-kin rejects the timeshare, it may go to the next heir, and the next, and the next, etc. Every family member must file their own disclaimer. If the timeshare is disclaimed by all heirs, it is likely that the timeshare company will foreclose on the timeshare. There may be leftover debts for unpaid fees, and the estate may have to fork over those payments.

A few tips: if you are planning on refusing a timeshare, you cannot use it. Don’t try it out, let a friend use it or go one last time. If you wish to disclaim something, you cannot receive any benefit of the thing you are disclaiming. Once you receive a benefit, the opportunity to disclaim it is gone.

Unwanted timeshares usually sell for far less than the original purchase price. Selling a timeshare involves a market loaded with scammers who promise a quick sale, while charging thousands of dollars upfront.

If possible, speak with your parents and their estate planning attorney to head the problem off in advance.

Reference: KSL-TV (Jan. 25, 2021) “How to Avoid Inheriting a TImeshare You Don’t Want”

Does an Estate Plan Need to Change because of the New Administration?

“Now that there is a Democratic majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, estate and gift tax law changes are expected to occur in 2021 or 2022.”

Changes in the White House and the Senate have many people wondering how federal estate and gift tax laws may change and when those changes will occur, as reported in an article “Estate planning in light of a new presidential administration: What should you do now?” from the St. Louis Business Journal.

While campaigning, Joe Biden pledged to undo many of the prior administration’s tax policies, promising a progressive approach to taxation focusing on shifting the burden of taxes to high-income individuals and businesses.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) temporarily doubled the federal estate and gift tax exemption to $10 million (adjusted annually for inflation) until 2025. For 2021, the exemption stands at $11.7 million for individuals and $23.4 million for married couples. These amounts were set to expire after 2025 to $5 million for individuals and $10 million for married couples, but changes are expected to arrive sooner.

Biden also said he would end the “step-up” in basis that spares beneficiaries from having to pay income taxes for capital gains on inherited assets that appreciated in value, typically stocks, mutual funds and real estate. If a beneficiary sells an inherited asset now, the capital gains generated is the difference between the asset’s fair market value at the time of the sale minus the stepped-up basis, i.e., the fair market value of the asset at the date of the deceased’s death, rather than the basis at the date of the original purchase.

Without the step-up in basis, the capital gains generated upon the sale of the inherited assets would be far higher, increasing capital gains taxes paid by heirs.

Does it make sense to prepare or review your estate plan now, in light of the potential changes ahead? Having an outdated estate plan might be a bigger risk. When it comes to big changes in future tax laws, there are two things to keep in mind:

Making changes out of fear of tax law changes that have not occurred yet, could have lasting effects, and not always good ones. It is prudent to remain informed and prepared, but not to anticipate changes that have not become law yet.

What is more important is to be prepared for change, by understanding your current estate plan and being sure that it still works to minimize taxes and accomplish goals.

A few questions to consider:

• Do you fully understand your current estate plan?
• Do you know the total value of your assets and liabilities?
• Do you know if federal and state estate taxes will be an issue for your heirs?
• Have you reviewed your beneficiary designations recently?
• When was your estate plan last updated? That includes your last will, revocable living trust, power of attorney and health care directives.

Changes are coming to estate law, but what they are and when they will occur are still unknown. Having an experienced estate planning attorney create or review your estate plan right now is more important than waiting to see what the future will bring.

Reference: St. Louis Business Journal (Jan. 27, 2021) “Estate planning in light of a new presidential administration: What should you do now?”

Should You Gift Stocks as Part of Your Estate Plan?

“Gifting stock to family members may lack the pizzazz of leaving a luxury car adorned with a bow in the driveway, but it’s a gift that can add value to their lives long after most other gifts have been forgotten.”

There are a number of ways to gift stock to family members, during your lifetime or after you die, according to a recent article from Think Advisor titled “Gifting Stock to Family Members: What You Need to Know.” The idea is simple, but how the gifting is done and what taxes may or may not need to be paid (and by whom) requires a closer look.

A gift of stock today is made through an electronic transfer from your account to the investment account of the recipient of the shares. The rules for gifting shares of stocks also apply to gifting ETFs and mutual funds.

Lifetime gifts. Stock gifts can be made in place of giving cash. The annual gift limit of $15,000 per person or $30,000 for a joint gift with your spouse, applies, and the value of the stock on the day of the transfer constitutes the amount of the gift.

If you gift in excess of the annual gifting limits, this takes a bite out of your lifetime gift and tax exemption, which as of this writing is $11.7 million per person for federal estate taxes. That’s something to keep in mind when deciding on your gifting strategy.

Using a trust for gifting. Instead of giving cash to a family member, you could use a trust and transfer your shares into the trust, with the family member as a beneficiary of the trust. The treatment of tax and cost basis issues will depend upon the type of trust used. Your estate planning attorney will be able to help you determine what type of trust to use.

Transfer on death. You can also gift stocks to others through your will, through a transfer on death designation in a brokerage account, through a beneficiary designation in a trust if the securities are held there, or through an inherited IRA. Taxes and cost basis will vary, depending upon your circumstances.

Taxes and gifting stock. There are no taxes and no tax implications at the time stocks are gifted to someone, but there are some issues to know before making the gift.

When stocks are given to a relative, there is no tax impact for the donor or the person receiving the stock, and as long as the value of the stock is within the annual gifting limits, the donor does not have to do anything. If the gift value exceeds the limit, the person has to file a gift tax return.

The recipient of the stock shares doesn’t owe capital gains taxes, until the stocks are sold. At that time, the cost basis and holding period of the person who gifted the shares will need to be known in order to determine the tax liability.

If the stock is gifted at a price below the donor’s cost basis and sold at a loss, the recipient’s cost basis and holding period is determined by the fair market value of the stock on the date of the gift. However, if the price of the shares increases above the donor’s original cost basis, their cost basis and holding period need to be known to calculate the recipient’s capital gain.

Gifting to children or grandchildren. Gifting shares of appreciated stock to children and grandchildren can make sense for the donors, since they are taking the value of the stock out of their estate and gifting it to a child or grandchild in a lower tax bracket. The recipient or their parents could sell the shares and pay a lower capital gains rate, or even no capital gains taxes. However, if the recipient is a current or future college student, or the student’s parent, the gift could reduce eligibility for need-based financial aid. The stock may need to be reported as an asset belonging to the student or the parent, increasing their income when they are received and/or when they are sold.

Speak with your estate planning attorney before gifting stock or cash to family members. There will be sensible ways to be generous without creating any issues for recipients.

Reference: Think Advisor (Jan. 25, 2021) “Gifting Stock to Family Members: What You Need to Know”

Divorce, Death and Details: Missteps can Create Estate Planning Disasters

“After the divorce, Mike logged onto the employer’s benefits system and tried, but failed, to delete Wendy as the beneficiary of his life insurance.”

This estate battle shows how small details can become huge headaches. Four courts and several years after this estate battle began, a family won a case that could have been easily prevented, as reported in The Dallas Morning News article “The way out of the ERISA trap: A tale of divorce, death and money.”

A couple married and then divorced. The divorce decree clearly stated that Mike was awarded all of his employee benefits, including his life insurance. However, when Mike logged into his employer’s benefits systems, it would not allow him to delete his ex-wife as the beneficiary of his life insurance. It may have been programmed that way. There are laws concerning removing spouses from employee benefits. Or it was a glitch. However, Mike did not pursue it.

When Mike died, he was survived by his parents, who claimed his estate, but the $377,000 life insurance policy was not part of his estate because his ex-wife was still the beneficiary.

His parents filed a claim with the insurance company for the proceeds of the insurance policy.

The first court they filed in was the probate court, so they could be properly recognized as Mike’s heirs. The probate court found in their favor and named Mike’s dad as the independent administrator of his estate.

The second court was federal court. That’s because employee benefits are governed by a federal law ERISA—the Employee Retirement Income Security Act—that controls employee benefits, including employer-provided life insurance. These matters can only be dealt with by a federal court.

The federal court ruled that because Mike’s ex was on the beneficiary form, she was the rightful owner.

However, Wendy had waived her rights to the insurance benefits when she signed off on the divorce decree. Mike’s parents were determined to win this battle.

Their legal team took the argument next to court three—the original divorce court. Mike’s dad, in the position of the estate administrator, argued that while Wendy did have a right to receive the money under ERISA, she did not have a right under state law to keep it. She had waived that right in the divorce decree. The divorce court agreed and found that Mike’s estate owned the proceeds. The money was to be turned over to Mike’s parents.

Court number four came when Wendy petitioned the state appellate court to overturn the award. She lost.

What were the factors that allowed Mike’s parents to win this case? The divorce decree contained clear language regarding the life insurance policy. If it had been poorly drafted, the results could have been different. Mike’s parents went through all the correct procedural courts—establishing heirship, then probate, then divorce enforcement case.

One step could have been added: a restraining order so that the ex could not squander the money between the time that she received the proceeds and when the final judgement was rendered.

Reference: The Dallas Morning News (Jan. 24, 2021) “The way out of the ERISA trap: A tale of divorce, death and money”

Can Unmarried Couples have an Estate Plan?

“The couple needs to create an appropriate estate plan. If they truly want inheritance rights, they need to execute testamentary documents, such as wills.”

For unmarried couples, having an estate plan might be even more important than for married couples, especially if there are children in the family. The unmarried couple does not enjoy all of the legal protection afforded by marriage, but many of these protections can be had through a well-prepared estate plan.

A recent article “Planning for unmarried couples” from nwi.com explains that in states that do not recognize common law marriages, like Indiana, the state will not recognize the couple as being married. However, even if you learn that your state does recognize a common law marriage, you still want to have an estate plan.

A will is the starting point of an estate plan, and for an unmarried couple, having it professionally prepared by an experienced estate planning attorney is very important. An agreement between two people as to how they want their assets distributed after death sounds simple, but there are many laws. Each state has its own laws, and if the document is not prepared correctly, it could very easily be invalid. That would make the couple’s agreement useless.

There are also things that need to be prepared, so an unmarried couple can take care of each other while they are living, which they cannot legally do without being married.

A cohabitating couple has no right to direct medical care for each other, including speaking with the healthcare provider or even seeing their partner as a visitor in a healthcare facility. If a decision needs to be made by one partner because the other partner is incapacitated, their partner will not have the legal right to make any medical decisions or even speak with a healthcare provider.

If the couple owns vehicles separately, the vehicles have their own titles (i.e., the legal document establishing ownership). If they want to add their partner’s name to the vehicle, the title needs to be reissued by the state to reflect that change.

If the couple owns a home together, they need to confirm how the home is titled. If they are joint tenants with rights of survivorship or tenants in common, that might be appropriate for their circumstances. However, if one person bought the home before they lived together or was solely responsible for paying the mortgage and for upkeep, they will need to make sure the title and their will establishes ownership and what the owner wants to happen with they die.

If the wish is for the surviving partner to remain in the home, that needs to be properly and legally documented. An estate planning attorney will help the couple create a plan that addresses this large asset and reflect the couple’s wishes for the future.

Unmarried cohabitating adults need to protect each other while they are living and after they pass. A local estate planning attorney will be able to help accomplish this.

Reference: nwi.com (Jan. 24, 2021) “Planning for unmarried couples”

How Much Tax Do You Pay on Inheritance?

“The death of a loved one is always a difficult time. The last thing most people want when they're grieving is to have to deal with the IRS and state tax officials.”

Unfortunately, unless the person you love has an estate plan and has spoken with you about it, the time you are grieving will also be the time you have to get up to speed about both death and taxes. The tax questions are explored in an article from the Delaware Bulletin Review titled “What Taxes Do You Have to Pay on an Inheritance?”

First, there is no federal estate tax on property. Federal law does not impose inheritance taxes on the heir directly. This is similar to gifts, as gift recipients don’t pay federal gift taxes either. However, that does not mean heirs don’t pay taxes. It is actually the opposite. That’s why it’s good to have these conversations before a loved one passes.

Estate taxes apply at the federal level, and they are paid by the estate. The executor uses cash from the estate or sells estate assets to pay the tax.

Unless there is specific language in the will or trust staying otherwise, federal estate tax liability does not usually impact specific bequests of cash or property to beneficiaries. The heirs may receive less of an inheritance because taxes are being paid by the estate. As of this writing, the federal tax exemption is very high--$11.7 million—so very few Americans actually pay federal estate tax.

However, exemptions on state estate taxes are considerably lower. Some states also have inheritance taxes, which are paid by heirs, usually out of their inheritances.

Note: if the estate fails to pay any estate taxes, the IRS is empowered to collect taxes from heirs.

Six states have inheritance taxes. If you are a resident of Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania and expect to receive an inheritance, be mindful that there will be taxes taken from your inheritance. Each state has its own rules, so work with a local estate planning attorney to be certain that you are paying the correct amount to the correct governmental taxing agency.

There is no way for an heir to prevent this tax liability. The only person who can have an impact on inheritance taxes is for the person who is leaving the bequest to plan in advance for the taxes. This is usually done through the use of a trust or gifting while they are still living. Some states have rules that frown on gifting assets immediately before death. If gifts are given regularly for a number of years in advance of the death, they are less likely to be considered as being given “in contemplation of death” and, therefore, potentially subject to estate tax.

An experienced estate planning attorney will know the inheritance, federal estate and gift tax rules and can help guide the family, pre- and post-mortem, in managing the tax liabilities of an inheritance. If your aging parents live in one state and you live in another, you may owe estate taxes in their state and inheritance taxes in your state.

Reference: Delaware Bulletin Review (Jan. 19, 2021) “What Taxes Do You Have to Pay on an Inheritance?”

Control of Assets a Key Issue in Deciding on a Trust

“Avoiding probate usually is the main appeal for living trusts. Trusts also can provide a gentler transition, if the grantor becomes incapacitated.”

Any trust created while the person, known as the “grantor,” is living, is known as a “living trust.” However, the term is also used interchangeably with “revocable trusts,” which can be changed according to the grantor’s wishes. During the lifetime of the grantor, as explained in the recent article “Control of Assets a Key Issue in Deciding on a Trust” from FED Week, that person can be the trustee as well as the beneficiary. Control is retained over the trust and the assets it contains.

Trusts are used in estate plans as a way to avoid probate. Equally importantly, they can provide for an easier transition if the grantor becomes incapacitated. The co-trustee or successor trustee steps in to manage assets, and the process is relatively seamless. The family, in most cases, will not have to apply for conservatorship, an expensive and sometimes unnerving process. Within the privacy afforded a trust, the control and management of assets is far less stressful, assuming that the trust has been funded and all assets have been placed properly within the trust beforehand.

Naming a successor trustee so the grantor may remain in control during his or her lifetime is an easier concept for most people. However, adding a co-trustee rather than a successor may be a wiser move. A successor trustee requires the grantor, if still living, to formally resign and allow the successor trustee to take control of the trust and its assets.

If a co-trustee is named, he or she may step into control instantly, if the grantor becomes incapacitated.

Trusts fall into two basic categories:

Irrevocable Trusts—A permanent arrangement in which assets going into the trust are out of control of anyone but the trustee, with some exceptions. Giving up this control comes with benefits: the assets within the trust may not be tapped by creditors and they are not considered part of the estate, also lowering tax liability. Irrevocable trusts are generally used to protect loved ones, who are named as beneficiaries.

Revocable Trusts—The grantor retains control over trust assets and may collect investment income from assets in the trust. If the grantor decides to have the assets back in his or her personal accounts, they can be reclaimed into his or her own name.

The revocable trust protects the grantor against incompetency, as the successor trustee or co-trustee can take over management of trust assets and assets pass to designated recipients without having to go through probate.

Determining which of these trusts is best for your family depends on many different factors. Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to learn how trusts might work within your unique estate plan.

Reference: FED Week (Jan. 21, 2021) “Control of Assets a Key Issue in Deciding on a Trust”