Essential Trust Plan
A GOOD STARTING POINT FOR YOUR ESTATE PLAN
We try to accomplish a lot with our trusts. A certain amount of complexity is a sign of a comprehensive legal instrument, so where then, is the place for an entry-level trust?
Many universal estate planning goals can be accomplished with a such a trust. These goals include:
- Caring for yourself and loved ones
- Anticipating incapacity
- Protecting assets for your family
- Saving time and trouble in your estate
We crafted our Essential Trust to meet these goals:
- Helping you prepare for the care of your family in the event of your sickness or death.
- Caring for you in your illness or old age, when managing your affairs would be less easy.
- Providing a legal instrument to direct your care if you become incapacitated. The Simple Trust also cares for your loved ones and takes over during periods when you are unable. The trust can invest, buy, and sell. Real estate transactions are easier for an incapacitated person with a trust than without.
- Using a trust for management is superior to relying on power of attorney. As proof, look no further than the fact that a trust instrument is the clear choice of financial institutions over power of attorney. A stripped down trust does not need to have complexity to support sound management.
- Such a trust doesn’t require probate in order to set up the structure for the care of your family.
- Each beneficiary can be treated as a unique individual, with their own needs, including supporting persons with special circumstances or issues.
- Saving time and trouble in settling your estate is a big deal. The Essential Trust will do that by owning the assets ahead of time. Thus, it will be capable of avoiding probate court (where most of the time and trouble comes in to play).
Setting up a trust earlier rather than later can help you start to take advantage of estate planning benefits. Naturally, there’s no substitute for being prepared and well organized. Our Essential Trust comes with a free first year of TrustSupport™, our trust maintenance program that helps you stay up to date in what’s happening in the estate planning world and many other benefits.
What can’t this trust do? There are lots of things you may want to accomplish that require a more robust trust. Saving estate taxes is one. Protecting assets is another problematic area. Being revocable doesn’t protect you and your assets from the claims of creditors and predators. We would note that even the most complex revocable trust does not, by itself, protect you and your assets. That said, an Essential Trust can be a springboard for protection for your family after you’ve passed, as it can morph into protective shares for them.
You may have other important goals that can only be achieved with a more in-depth document, but the good news is that these trusts are amendable.
This plan is fitting for someone who wants to get started with an estate plan, but who may not want some of the advanced tools just yet. Our goal is always to keep your plan easy and protective, and allow you to leave a legacy of love rather than the hassles and trouble of an unplanned estate.
