Why Should I Seek Out a Trust Specialist?

Growing up in an Italian neighborhood, everyone around me had “a guy.” If you asked your friend about a roofer he would reply, “I got a guy.” If your hair wasn’t greased enough, your friend would say, “You should go see my guy, he’ll fix you up.” Even the kids would fight over their action figures and say, “Hey…that’s MY guy!”

So, when it comes to trust planning, does it follow that you “need a guy?” We think it does. Trusts have become more widely used over the years, and that increased popularity has ushered in a slew of new strategies and tools to make them more effective. You wouldn’t see your primary care physician to handle heart surgery, but rather a cardiologist. And when you need a trust, you should see a trust specialist.

We recently helped a widow who had a trust prepared by a general practice attorney a few years ago. She now wished to make some changes to the plan and asked us to provide a second opinion. Less than 10 minutes into the review, several issues became apparent:

• Unbeknownst to her, the trust was irrevocable and, by its terms, was not allowed to be changed.
• The trust was written to save estate taxes at her death, but in actuality was going to cause an even higher tax bill when considering capital gains.
• It was assumed by the client that the trust protected assets from long-term care costs, which it did not.
• The entire trust document was put on public record with the Registry of Deeds so that anyone could view her intimate choices regarding family affairs.

By working with trusts on a daily basis, we were able to identify these red flags in short order and provide a solution that’s centered around changing an unchangeable trust to better align with her wishes and intent. This type of work requires a trust specialist.

Learn more about how this is accomplished through trust decanting, when assets inside an irrevocable trust are moved to another irrevocable trust with more favorable terms, all while retaining the original protections and objectives. Being in her 90s, things could have gone terribly wrong had she waited any longer.

Planning your estate is critical to leaving a lasting, positive legacy. With our step-by-step trust planning process, we make it easy to plan for your family’s future with clarity and confidence. We want to be “your guy” if you’ll have us! Schedule a complimentary consultation to talk about trusts that meet your unique needs and goals with one of our paralegals Paula or Courtney.