Naperville, Illinois Trusts Attorney

Estate Planning Lawyer Helping Clients Establish Trusts in Naperville

A comprehensive estate plan can be crucial for anyone, regardless of their age, their health status, or the structure of their family. There are many tools that can be used in an estate plan, and trusts can provide effective ways to protect assets, provide for a family, and make sure a person's wishes will be carried out without unnecessary delays or expenses. Understanding how trusts work and the types of trusts that are available is an important first step in building an effective estate plan.

At The McCormick Law Firm, LLC, our attorney works with clients in Naperville to determine the best ways to use trusts in an estate plan. He will take time to understand a family's situation and financial circumstances, and he can provide guidance on the trust structures that may be used to achieve their long-term goals. He will also guide clients through the process of funding a trust, ensuring that assets will be managed correctly and distributed to beneficiaries as planned.

What Is a Trust?

When a person creates a trust, they will put a legal arrangement in place in which a trustee will control and manage their assets. The trustee will distribute the assets to the person's beneficiaries based on specific instructions that are provided. This can provide more flexibility over how assets may be handled, ensuring that they will be distributed at certain times or in certain circumstances or that they will be used for specific purposes.

Benefits of Establishing a Trust

Trusts can provide a great deal of power and flexibility when managing and distributing assets, making them an essential part of many estate plans. The benefits that they can provide include:

• Avoiding Probate: Assets that are held in a trust can often be distributed to beneficiaries more quickly and efficiently. The probate process that is followed after a person's death will involve the validation of their will, an inventory of their assets, and the distribution of those assets by their executor. This process can take months or even years, and court costs and other expenses will be required. However, assets in a trust can pass to beneficiaries outside of probate, allowing for faster and more private transfers while minimizing expenses.
• Providing for Minor Children: Minors generally cannot inherit assets directly, and they may need to wait until they reach adulthood before they will receive money or other assets. To ensure that the needs of children will be met, assets can be placed in a trust, and a trustee can manage those assets on behalf of children, use them to address specific needs, and distribute them to children after they reach certain ages.
• Planning for Incapacity: A trust can help ensure that financial issues will be handled correctly during a person's lifetime. If a person becomes incapacitated due to an illness or injury, a successor trustee can manage their assets on their behalf and use the assets in a trust to provide for their needs. This can help avoid the need to establish guardianship for a disabled adult.
• Minimizing Estate Taxes: For larger estates, certain types of trusts may help reduce the estate taxes that may apply after a person's death. Through proactive planning, assets can be transferred into trusts, which may reduce the value of an estate below the estate tax threshold.

Types of Trusts That May Be Used in an Estate Plan

Our attorney can work with clients to evaluate which types of trusts may help them achieve their goals. Options may include:

Revocable Living Trusts

A person can create a trust and serve as the trustee during their lifetime, allowing them to maintain control over their assets and make changes to the terms of the trust as needed. They can also be a beneficiary of the trust, using their assets to address various needs, such as the costs of nursing home care after they reach an advanced age. When the person dies or becomes incapacitated, a successor trustee will take control of the trust and distribute assets to beneficiaries while following specific instructions.

Revocable living trusts can help ensure that assets will be managed correctly while providing instructions for distributing those assets before or after a person's death. The advantages of these trusts include the ability to avoid probate, address incapacity, and distribute assets quickly while maintaining privacy.

Irrevocable Trusts

Certain types of trusts will require a person to give up control over their assets. When assets are placed in an irrevocable trust, they may be protected from creditors, and they may also be excluded from a person's taxable estate. Our lawyer can make sure these trusts are structured correctly to protect assets while meeting specific needs.

Special Needs Trusts

When a person has a physical or developmental disability, their loved ones may wish to provide them with financial assistance. In many cases, special needs trusts are the best way of doing so, since they can ensure that a person will be able to maintain eligibility for needs-based government benefits. Our attorney can make sure a special needs trust is set up correctly to provide for a beneficiary's specific needs, such as education or recreation.

Charitable Trusts

For those who wish to incorporate philanthropic giving into their estate plan, charitable trusts can be an effective way of doing so. A charitable remainder trust can ensure that a person will be able to receive income from the trust's assets during a specific time period while making arrangements to donate the remaining assets to a designated charity after that period is complete. A charitable lead trust can be used to make donations to a charity during a specific time period, after which the remaining assets will be distributed to a person's heirs.

Contact Our Naperville, IL Trust Lawyer

At The McCormick Law Firm, LLC, we can advise you on the roles that different types of trusts may play in your estate plan. Our lawyer will make sure trust documents are drafted correctly and that the right steps are taken to fund trusts. He can also provide guidance on how trusts and other parts of your estate plan may be updated to address changes as the years go by. To learn more about how we can assist you in creating a comprehensive estate plan, contact our Naperville trusts attorney at 630-517-8570 and schedule a free consultation.