Author Topic: Has anyone setup a Trust or have information  (Read 2869 times)

BTDretire

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Has anyone setup a Trust or have information
« on: December 14, 2017, 04:07:17 PM »
I have breakfast twice a week wih more mature adults (old) and 75% of them have a trust.
 They do it mostly to avoid probate on their assets that go to their heirs.
 Anyone with input on that would be helpful.

The Umbrella Insurance thread got me wondering if a Trust does anything to protect assets from lawsuits.
 What do you think?

Poeirenta

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Re: Has anyone setup a Trust or have information
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2017, 05:15:07 PM »
We are getting ready to do this and have two NOLO books on hold from the library to see if we can DIY it. The NOLO Planning Your Estate book introduced us to the concept and the basics of what one needs to do. Beyond that, I'm not much help until I get the books.

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: Has anyone setup a Trust or have information
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2017, 06:14:49 PM »
I've helped lots of people set up a trust -in these cases per laws related to disability finances.

A few items from this experience (which may or may not apply to other scenarios, I don't know):
1. A trust is considered its own legal entity -the contents no longer "belong to" the individual.
2. As such, they are somewhat protected from lawsuits on a person.
3. If one is moving money into a trust only to avoid paying on legitimate claims, it may not be protected.
4. As a distinct legal entity, a trust requires its own tax return.
5. Their contents are taxed differently than other entities are.

Paying a lawyer to set one up, paying an accountant to do a special tax return every year, and higher taxation may bring more cost than benefit.

Different types of trusts, and each region of the world (or even within a country), may have different rules, so you'd need to figure out the intention of a trust, then look at what's involved in setting one up and maintaining one of that type in that region.

I'm not a lawyer, tax accountant, etc. In each case I've worked on, we did use each of these. I've felt the details were too complex for me and the other lay people involved to ensure they were done correctly.

BTDretire

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Re: Has anyone setup a Trust or have information
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2017, 08:03:33 AM »
I did find a website, https://www.alperlaw.com/estate-planning/living-trust/
that says, "Some people mistakenly believe that living trusts provide asset protection for the trustmaker. In fact, a living trust provides the trustmaker no asset protection of assets the trustmaker conveys to his own living trust."
  He then goes on to explain why.
 This is a Florida lawyer, don't know about other states.
 So, looks like any stache protection would from umbrella insurance.

joonifloofeefloo

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Re: Has anyone setup a Trust or have information
« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2017, 09:54:01 AM »
Yeah, see if you can find the info pertinent to the type of trust you wish to create in the region you wish to hold it in. It may be like the above, and may be different.

tralfamadorian

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Re: Has anyone setup a Trust or have information
« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2017, 05:16:50 PM »
Revocable trusts provide no asset protection; they are useful for privacy and the change of asset ownership. Irrevocable trusts provide complete asset protection but are at the whim of the trustees who control it and are taxed at a very high rate which hamstrings growth.