Best Living Trust Lawyer Folsom CA
How to Create a Living Trust
Along with the best living trust lawyer Folsom CA has to offer, you have created a substantial portfolio of assets. But now you are worried that when you pass away, your beneficiaries will be subject to the hassle of probate and estate taxes. What should you do?
First of all, it is important to note that a trust is an instrument whereby you transfer the management of your assets to a trustee to benefit your beneficiaries. With respect to a living trust, it is created while you are still alive. This is a very complicated area of the law, and if not done correctly, it will not have any effect at avoiding probate or of protecting your assets. The Folsom living trust lawyers at Yee Law Group have 40 years of combined experience creating living trusts and helping answer estate planning questions. Contact us today at 916-927-9001 to have your questions answered and to schedule your initial consultation today.
About Living Trusts
Building a living trust comes with three major roles:
- The Grantor. The best living trust lawyer Folsom CA recommends might ask you to think of the grantor as the trust creator. The grantor is the individual who creates the trust and also decides what his or her trust will say regarding what will happen during a period of being incapacitated, during a period of disability, or during the period in which the grantor passes away. The grantor also takes all of their possessions and retitles them to the trust. He or she can list whomever he or she wants to give assets to by name and affiliation.
- The Trustee. Now picture the trustee as the living trust’s manager. The trustee will manage all of the assets and allocations of the trust. This means that the trustee will possess the authority to decide what will happen to the grantor’s assets. They can buy, sell, gift, loan, and borrow assets in the grantor’s name. As someone deemed by many to be the best living trust lawyer Folsom CA clients know can tell you, all of the powers that you have over your assets transfers over to your trustee at the time of your death.
- The Beneficiary. The beneficiary of the living trust is a person or persons who essentially get to reap the benefits of the trust. They get to enjoy the assets.
So, as the best living trust lawyer Folsom CA has available can inform you, the trustee manages the assets that the grantor put into the trust for the benefit of the beneficiary. The key to a living trust is more than just the trust document, it is making sure that the trust is funded. The trust must own your assets; it is not just a stack of papers. The way a trust works is that it owns your assets. You have to literally take your bank account, stocks, bonds, and other investments and put it in your trust’s name. Do not put IRAs or annuities in, because they typically have some tax issues and are subject to probate. The best living trust lawyer offered in Folsom CA can make sure that your assets are passed to your loved ones with the minimum amount of legal fees and delay, as well as the maximum amount of privacy by creating a living trust instead of a will.
The Difference Between Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts
If you have saved money and acquired assets, you likely know firsthand the work it takes to do so, making it essential that you turn to the best living trust lawyer in Folsom CA . To make the effort you put in matter as much as it can for as long as it can, you need to engage in intelligent, active estate planning. Broadly speaking, wills and trusts are the core components of estate planning, while your will takes effect upon your death a trust takes effect, depending on its type, before or after your death. A living trust, which can go into effect during your lifetime, may be designed to protect assets from taxation and government healthcare programs such as Medicaid and Medicare — thus allowing you to better protect assets for future generations. To create a living trust in California, contact the best living trust lawyer in Folsom CA at Yee Law Group.
There are two types of living trusts:
1) a revocable living trust
2) an irrevocable living trust
With regard to each, if you are the designer of the trust (i.e. the protector of the assets), the legal term for your role is “grantor.” Working with the best living trust lawyer offered in Folsom CA can help you carefully weigh your options when choosing whether to choose a revocable or irrevocable trust.
A Revocable Living Trust May Be Altered During Your Lifetime
As the grantor of a revocable living trust, you have the power of revocation (another legal term, for change or alteration). The power of revocation allows you, even after creating the trust and filling it with initial assets, to change the trust’s beneficiaries (those you intend to benefit from the assets of the trust) as well as add or remove assets at your discretion. As such, the flexibility inherent in a revocable living trust functions as a tool of asset management to be utilized while you are alive. The best living trust lawyer in Folsom CA can help you lookout for the best interests of family and other loved ones in real-time as life happens.
An Irrevocable Living Trust May Not Be Altered During Your Lifetime
An irrevocable living trust, as you have likely deduced, cannot be changed or altered after it has been created and received assets. While this lack of flexibility may seem at the outset to be undesirable, the best living trust lawyer in Folsom CA can help you take a closer look to reveal incentives.
First, when you give assets to a trust, the assets are no longer titled under your name. They are the property of the trust, this distinction may facilitate tax avoidance. On the other hand, if social good is your focus, an irrevocable living trust may present a good option for giving to charities because the charitable organizations know they can count on the assets entrusted to them, once and for all.
Determining the Type of Trust That Is Right for You with the Best Living Trust Lawyer from Folsom CA
Whether a revocable, irrevocable, or other trust is right for you is a question that involves a close and considerable look into the specifics of your estate, wishes, and intended beneficiaries. To plan your estate with a trust, will, or combination of estate planning resources, contact Yee Law Group, the best living trust lawyer in Folsom CA today.
Contact the Best Living Trust Lawyer in Folsom CA Today!
With Yee Law Group, you can trust that you have an attorney with the diligence and experience to help walk you through creating a sound living trust. Contact us at 916-927-9001 today to schedule a consultation where someone who many consider to be the best living trust lawyer Folsom CA has to give can answer your questions and aid you in creating a living trust today.
Which Assets May Be Included in a Revocable Trust?
Though you may have already decided to create a revocable trust, you may be unclear about what types of assets can be transferred into this resource. It’s important to consider what assets you may wish to transfer into the trust now and at a later time, as well as what assets you may wish to remove at some point in the future. Although you can work with one of the best living trust lawyers in Folsom, CA to work out the details, it’s a good idea to have a general understanding of how trusts work before you sit down with the team at the Yee Law Group. That way, you can ask our team as many informed questions as you like about your specific assets and your specific trusts.
Here are several types of assets that are commonly placed in revocable living trusts:
Cash Accounts
Examples of cash accounts are savings, checking, CDs, and money markets. If you decide to transfer your CDs into a trust, check with your bank first to make sure you will not incur penalties if the CD has not yet matured. If they do not consider the transfer to a trust as an early withdrawal, then this should not be an issue. Just make sure to speak with one of the best living trust lawyers in Folsom, California before making any assumptions about what you should or should not transfer and when these transfers should be made to best serve your interests and the interests of the trust.
Non-Qualified Annuity
A non-qualified annuity can be transferred to your revocable living trust. Alternately, you can designate the trust as the annuity’s primary or secondary beneficiary.
Tangible Personal Property
This includes personal effects such as computers and other digital devices, jewelry, books, clothing, personal papers, artwork, collectibles, airplanes, tools, pets, firearms, collectibles, motor vehicles, and more.
A “pour-over will” instructs the estate’s executor to transfer your tangible personal property into the revocable trust when you pass away. This may result in your estate having to undergo probate. If you’re hoping to avoid probate, one of the best living trust lawyers in Folsom, CA can advise you of your options.
Brokerage and Non-Retirement Investment Accounts
These include assets that are held in an account which is in your name, or jointly in your name and others’ names. However, they do not include accounts that are held in retirement plans such as an IRA, qualified annuities, or a 401(k) or a 403(b).
Business Interests
This includes limited and general partnership interests. Usually your trust should be named on the partnership ownership certificate. Membership interest in a limited liability company may require the consent of at least one, but possible all of the company’s owners. As for stock shares in a closely held corporation, most of the time it is acceptable to retitle the stock in the name of your trust. Exceptions to these rules should be specified in the partnership agreement, the operating agreement, or the shareholder’s agreement. One of the best living trust lawyers in Folsom, CA can explain how this process works.
Life Insurance Policy
When this is transferred to a revocable living trust, the successor trustee will have the legal authority to borrow against its cash value in order to pay for your medical and other care if you become mentally incapacitated. Check with your estate planning attorney to discuss whether California only offers protection for life insurance policies for individuals and not for trusts.
This information is undeniably complex. However, when you meet with one of the best living trust lawyers in Folsom, CA, a member of our experienced team will walk you through the process of selecting assets for transfer, step by step. We look forward to speaking with you.
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“Just had our living trust done with yee law group. Mike yee and his team made the whole process so easy. Highly recommend!”
Kelly Dun
