One way you can reduce estate taxes and the costs of probate court is bypassing it. This is why trusts have become so popular. Trusts are an excellent estate-planning and property managing tool. They are fairly simple and inexpensive to create and are accessible to everyone.
Private citizens create trusts for many reasons. One particular reason why many people create a trust is to prevent certain assets or capital from going to probate court when you die. A way to do this is by creating a trust in favor of a beneficiary who at the time of the formation of the trust is incapable of managing the property that is intended for him or her, either because he or she is a minor, or because he or she has been legally declared incapacitated. For example, a parent can create a trust in favor of his three minor children, providing that the funds transferred to the trustee will be used to finance the children’s future college studies in equal parts. Another example would be the case in which a parent creates a trust in favor of his or her autistic child to provide for his or her future special needs, called special needs trust, for the child’s personal and medical care.
In simple words, a trust is a legal arrangement made between three persons, generally speaking. The owner of the trust is called the trustor. The person whose name the trustor is going to transfer the property is the trustee. The trustee has the obligation of managing and protecting the property in benefit of a third person, the beneficiary. Instead of persons, there could be an institution. There are two broad categories or types of trusts: living revocable trust and testamentary trust. Living trusts are those created to operate during the trustor’s lifetime. The testamentary trust starts working when the trustor dies.
Living trusts, also known as “inter vivos” trusts, are exempt from the probate process. In other words, the money or the property you put in it does not have to go to court after your death. This will prevent the costs associated with probate court and reduce the taxes associated with the property you are leaving behind.
Among living trusts there are two classifications: private or charitable, depending on who they are meant to benefit. Private trusts are those created for the benefit of a particular citizen or group of citizens. Such are the trusts created for the benefit of one or several family members, like to fund college studies or to support the special needs of a handicapped relative or friend. Charitable trusts are created to financially benefit a cause, a class or group of persons which the trustor wants to provide support. We hear of this type of trusts all the time, especially in reference to celebrities. A trust in benefit of the American Red Cross, for example, would be a charitable type of trust.
A trust can also be either revocable or irrevocable, depending on its purpose. In a revocable trust, the grantor can change any of the conditions of the trust, even after the trust has commenced. On the other hand, in an irrevocable trust, the trustor waives his or her right to make any changes once the trust is created.
There are many other types of trusts that can be used to meet your specific needs or purposes. Regardless of what kind of need you have, creating a trust will always save you money.