As part of our comprehensive Life & Estate Planning services, we assist clients with setting up, funding and/or administering Trusts. Depending on your specific circumstances, we can design a customized Trust to protect your assets and help you achieve the following goals: 

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•  Ensure that Your Home & Financial Assets are Fully Protected

•  Establish Your (or a Loved One's) Eligibility for Medicaid Benefits

•  Avoid the Costs, Delays & Hassles of Probate

•  Control how Your Assets are Distributed After You Pass Away

•  Reduce or Eliminate the Imposition of Taxes on Your Estate 

•  Provide for a Loved One with Special Needs

•  Protect a Child's Inheritance Until He/She Becomes Old Enough to Manage Assets 

•  Protect a Wasteful Beneficiary from Squandering His/Her Inheritance

•  Make Gifts to Your Favorite Charities

•  Put a Plan in Place to Provide for Your Future Care & Support  

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TRUST AGREEMENTS PROVIDE SEVERAL SIGNIFICANT PLANNING BENEFITS

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There are many advantages to incorporating a Trust as part of your Life & Estate Plan, including:

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• Asset Protection. An Asset Protection Trust is an excellent planning tool for protecting valuable assets such as your home and financial accounts. Any assets placed into the Trust will be fully protected from creditors (e.g., Medicaid, etc.) and other potential threats (e.g., lawsuits, court judgments, etc.).  An Asset Protection Trust may be tailored for various specific purposes such as qualifying for Medicaid benefits, protecting assets from being squandered, and avoiding costly estate and capital gains taxes, etc. 

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• Establish Medicaid Eligibility. A properly constructed Medicaid Trust may be utilized to shelter and protect your home and financial assets from Medicaid while, at the same time, helping you to establish your eligibility for Medicaid benefits at the earliest possible date. 

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• Avoid Probate. Assets passing through your Will must first go through the time-consuming and costly probate process before being distributed to your beneficiaries.  In contrast, assets in a Trust will pass directly to your beneficiaries and, as a result, will avoid the court costs, delays and hassles commonly associated with the probate process. In addition, whereas probate is a matter of public record, assets passing through a Trust remain private - thus ensuring the full privacy of your estate and family details.

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• Control Over Your Wealth.  A transfer of assets, either during your lifetime or through your Will, becomes the property of your beneficiary to do with as he/she sees fit. However, a Trust allows you to maintain control over when and how those gifted assets may be used.  For example, you may set up the Trust so that the assets (and any income generated by those assets) remain available to you during your lifetime, while designating the beneficiaries to whom the assets will pass following your death.   

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• Minimize Property & Estate Taxes.  Trusts provide many substantial tax planning benefits, including the preservation of the step-up in basis when transferring property, the reduction or elimination of capital gains tax, the preservation of property tax exemptions, and the reduction or elimination of estate taxes.

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• Special Needs Planning. Transferring assets directly to a loved one with special needs could jeopardize your loved one's eligibility for much-needed government assistance programs such as Medicaid and SSI.  However, a special type of Trust called a "Special Needs Trust" would allow you to provide supplemental assistance to your loved one without putting those government benefits at risk.

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• Protection of a Minor's Inheritance. The laws do not allow minor children to hold assets or inherit property directly from your estate. However, a Trust could be set up to hold and protect a child's inheritance until he/she becomes old enough to receive and manage the assets.​

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• Protection Against Incapacity. A Revocable Trust could also be used for incapacity planning. You could name yourself as the Trustee and designate a person of your choosing (i.e., a trusted relative or person of your choosing) to serve as the Successor Trustee to manage your assets in the event you subsequently become incapacitated. Furthermore, you could also include specific instructions in the Trust for how you want the Trust assets to be utilized to provide for your care and support.     ​​​​

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THE LAW OFFICES OF MICHAEL J. AMOROSO - PROTECTING YOUR ASSETS NOW & FOR THE FUTURE

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There are many potential benefits for including a Trust as part of your Estate Plan. Call the Law Offices of Michael J. Amoroso today, and we'll be happy to evaluate your situation and long-term goals and help you determine if a Trust would be an appropriate option for your Life & Estate Plan. 

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Click here to learn more about ​Specialized Trusts to Meet Your Planning Goals.