Depending on who your beneficiary is, some options might be a better fit than others. It is important that you understand who your beneficiary is, what their needs are, and what your desired outcome is.
Category Archives: Trustee
A grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) is an irrevocable grantor trust you can use to make large financial gifts to your loved ones while also minimizing gift tax liability. These financial gifts remove future appreciation from your estate, reducing the amount that will be subject to estate tax at your death. However, gift tax liability could apply. In this case, the trust creator would pay at the onset. You create a GRAT and then fund it with accounts and property. People expect these to appreciate over the GRAT’s term. Then, you receive a fixed annuity payment, based on the trust’s original value, for a specified time. Once the period ends, the court transfers the remainder of the trust’s accounts and property to your named beneficiary.
This person is a trusted decision maker who is tasked with handling all matters that relate to your trust. Depending on the type of trust, you could be the trustee in the beginning and need someone else to act as trustee only when you are unable to manage the trust, or you could select a trustee to act immediately.
If you are in a long-term relationship with your partner but remain unmarried, you may want to take advantage of these benefits. However, joint trusts do not work for unmarried couples. This may not seem fair. However, there are some important reasons why unmarried couples should consider separate rather than joint trusts.
Raquel Welch had a reported net worth of $40 million. This will presumably go to her two adult children. However, few details reveal Welch’s estate plan. This suggests that she was also savvy about estate planning.
Who would care for your pet if you die or somehow face incapacitation? Would your survivors know how to give your pet the same level of care you provide? A good way to ensure your pet is well cared for if something happens to you is to create a pet trust.
Parents of a special needs child could purchase life insurance for a child to benefit family caregivers.
Unlike a will, a trust will help keep your estate from going through an expensive, time-consuming, and public probate process. If you set up a trust, with trustees, you still create a will, but it becomes a pour-over will, which moves (pours) your assets into your trust.
When people create estate plans, they typically focus on distributing their money and property to loved ones. For those interested in multigenerational wealth transfer, consider dynasty trusts.
The beneficiary of a blind trust also has no knowledge of what goes on with the trust. However, in most cases, the trust-maker is also the beneficiary. That is, the trust contains their personal money and property, and the trustee manages that money and property for the benefit of the trust-maker-beneficiary—the trust-maker-beneficiary just has no knowledge of, or control over, the activities of the trust.
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