Trusts are important legal relationships that involve a Grantor who creates a Trust to hold property, a Trustee who holds or manages the property in the Trust, and a Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) who eventually receives the property. While there are many types of Trusts, they can usually be broken down into two categories: Revocable and Irrevocable. Below you will find the benefits, disadvantages, and differences between Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts. [Read more…] about Chatham County Trust Lawyer: What’s the difference between a Revocable Trust and an Irrevocable Trust?
irrevocable trust
Savannah Trusts Lawyer: Everything You Need to Know About Irrevocable Trusts
Irrevocable Trusts are an integral part of most asset protection planning strategies. They are used to protect property and assets from nursing homes and other predators and, depending on your individual situation, can end up saving you thousands of dollars. Savannah trusts attorneys have put together some of the basics to give you everything you need to know about Irrevocable Trusts. [Read more…] about Savannah Trusts Lawyer: Everything You Need to Know About Irrevocable Trusts
Using the “QTIP” Trust as an Estate Planning Tool in Savannah
As is true throughout the country, families here in the Savannah area come in all shapes and sizes. Trust lawyers need to be adept at understanding the complexities of all types of family situations so they can represent their client’s best interests and wishes. One way to do this for blended families is to create a QTIP Trust. [Read more…] about Using the “QTIP” Trust as an Estate Planning Tool in Savannah
Ask a Trust Attorney: Does My Trust Require a Separate Income Tax Return?
Does my trust require a separate income tax return?
The answer, as is true of so many of the questions we get, is – it depends. It depends on what type of trust you have.
A revocable living trust is what’s known, under the Internal Revenue Code, as a grantor trust. Your revocable living trust (also known as an RLT) uses your Social Security number (or either spouse’s Social Security number, in the case of a joint RLT for a married couple). All income, gains, losses, depreciation, etc. pass straight through to you (or you and your spouse). Therefore, there is no need to file a separate income tax return for your revocable living trust. [Read more…] about Ask a Trust Attorney: Does My Trust Require a Separate Income Tax Return?
The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
To discuss life insurance in relation to estate planning should not come as a surprise to anyone. Life insurance and estate planning go hand in hand. Life insurance proceeds are very often the fuel that powers the estate planning vehicle, whether that vehicle be a will or a living trust. It represents a major building block in the estate planning process. Many times the “fuel” is taxed at the pump before it finds its way into the estate planning vehicle. Because life insurance is not a probate asset (i.e. does not pass through probate, but via beneficiary designation), many people assume that it is not a taxable asset. [Read more…] about The Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust