Denver Trusts Lawyers
Safeguard Your Estate & Your Family’s Future
Establish a trust an important way you can safeguard your estate for both you and your family’s advantage. Although you can secure your estate with a will, a trust can provide numerous important benefits that are worth considering. That said, setting up a trust requires a great amount of care and experience to handle smoothly.
Denver Family Lawyers can help you form a new trust when you wish strengthen your estate plan. We are experienced estate planning advocates, which means you can benefit from our many years of assisting clients who wanted to achieve goals similar to yours. Not only do we understand what our clients want their trusts to do, but we have what it takes to ensure that their trusts function as intended. If you want to learn more about what our trust attorneys in Denver can do, then reach out to us to request an initial consultation.
Call (303) 225-3343 today to arrange an initial consultation with Denver Family Lawyers.
How Is a Trust Different from a Wills?
A trust and a will are both legal instruments used in estate planning, but they serve distinct purposes and operate in different ways. Understanding their differences can help individuals make informed decisions about how to manage their assets and provide for their loved ones after their death.
Functionality
A will outlines how a person's assets and property should be distributed after their death. It becomes effective only upon death and goes through the probate process. A trust, on the other hand, can be used to manage assets during a person's lifetime and can also dictate how assets are distributed after death. It bypasses probate for assets held within the trust.
Probate Involvement
Assets distributed via a will typically go through probate, a court-supervised process that validates the will and oversees asset distribution. Assets held in a trust can often avoid probate, which can be time-consuming and costly.
Privacy
Wills are public documents once they go through probate, meaning their contents become accessible to the public. Trusts are generally private documents, offering confidentiality about asset distribution and beneficiaries.
Control
A will only becomes effective after death and does not provide management of assets during the person's lifetime. A trust can manage assets during the person's lifetime, allowing them to specify how assets should be used if they become incapacitated.
Are There Different Types of Trusts?
There are various types of trusts available, each designed to serve different purposes and meet specific needs in estate planning and asset management. Understanding the different types of trusts can help you tailor your estate plan to achieve your financial goals, protect assets, and ensure your wishes are carried out effectively.
The following are just a few types of trusts you may be interested in creating.
Revocable Trusts
Also known as living trusts, revocable trusts allow the grantor (the person establishing the trust) to retain control over the trust assets during their lifetime. They have the flexibility to modify or revoke the trust at any time. These trusts are commonly used to avoid probate, a legal process that validates wills and distributes assets, thereby providing privacy and efficiency in asset transfer after the grantor's death.
Irrevocable Trusts
Unlike revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts cannot be modified or revoked once established, except under limited circumstances with court approval. Irrevocable trusts are often used for tax planning purposes, asset protection, and charitable giving. By transferring assets into an irrevocable trust, the grantor effectively removes those assets from their estate, potentially reducing estate taxes and protecting them from creditors.
Charitable Trusts
These trusts are established with the intention of benefiting a charitable organization or cause. Charitable trusts can provide immediate or deferred benefits to charities while allowing the grantor to receive certain tax advantages, such as income tax deductions.
There are two main types of charitable trusts: charitable remainder trusts, which provide income to beneficiaries for a specified period before donating the remaining assets to charity, and charitable lead trusts, which donate income to charity for a set term before transferring assets to beneficiaries.
Special Needs Trusts
Also known as supplemental needs trusts, these trusts are designed to provide financial support to individuals with disabilities or special needs without jeopardizing their eligibility for government benefits such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Special needs trusts are managed by a trustee and can cover expenses not provided by government programs, enhancing the quality of life for beneficiaries.
