Scranton Trusts Lawyer
There are many purposes to creating a trust. These include, though are not limited to, the following:
- Reducing the size of your taxable estate;
- Quickly passing down assets by bypassing probate, which is open to the public record, takes many months to finalize, and is expensive;
- Ensuring funds are used appropriately by your heirs;
- Protecting your assets from your heirs’ creditors;
- Setting aside your assets to qualify for long-term care;
- Passing down wealth to younger generations; and
- Creating a financially stable future for a disabled child.
Here are some of the trusts we do:
- Charitable Remainder Trusts
- Defective Grantor Trusts
- Dynasty Trusts
- Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT)
- Grantor Retained Income Trusts
- Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts & Crummey Trusts
- Qualified Personal Residence Trusts
- Qualified Terminable Interest Property (QTIP) Trusts
- Revocable Living Trusts
- Section 2503(c) Trusts
Revocable Trust
A revocable trust can be altered by the grantor—the person who created the trust. This type of trust is the most common. Because it can be changed months or years after it was created, and the assets within the trust still belong to the grantor during their lifetime, it is ideal for many scenarios.
Irrevocable Trust
Unlike a revocable trust, an irrevocable trust cannot be altered. Once it is created, the grantor has no access to the assets. The assets are in the control of the trustee for the beneficiary—the person who ends up with the assets.
Generation Skipping Trust
A generation skipping trust is one of the predominant ways to reduce the size of a taxable estate. If your estate is worth many millions, this is a good way to reduce the taxes that you will end up having to pay, because a generation skipping trust places assets aside for your grandchildren, and through various strategies, can be used to gift tax-free.
Charitable Trust
Many people choose to give their assets or a portion of their assets to a charity, either during their lifetime or after they pass away.
Asset Protection Trust
An asset protection trust, also called an offshore trust, safeguards your assets from creditors.
Medicaid Trust
Long-term care, such as assisted living or nursing care, costs a fortune. Most cannot afford this type of professional medical treatment for more than a few months to a few years. However, the federally funded Medicaid program can pay for all of your care. In order to qualify, you must have essentially no assets, which either means spending down or gifting everything you own. Or, you can set up a Medicaid trust, which preserves your assets while enabling you to qualify for Medicaid assistance.
Special Needs Trust
6.7 million, or 13 percent of public school children require special education services, according to the National Center of Education. Many of these children will never be financially independent. And, if you leave all of your assets to a child or adult child with special needs, they will no longer be eligible for government programs such as housing assistance, Medicaid, and Social Security Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI eligibility, for example, is capped at just $2,000 in assets.
Call a Scranton Trust Lawyer Today
There are dozens of reasons for creating a trust. Whether you have limited financial resources, or you have a large estate that needs to be sized down in order to avoid excessive taxation, our lawyers can help you. To set up a free consultation with one of our Scranton trust attorneys, call Haggerty Hinton & Cosgrove LLP today at 570-344-9845.
