Crafting Tomorrow, Today: Elevate Your Legacy With Integrity Financial Group’s Estate and Business Planning in Pensacola, FL

WILL

A will is a document that directs the distribution of your assets after your death to your designated heirs and beneficiaries. It also can include your instructions for matters that require decisions after your death, such as the appointment of an executor of the will and guardians for minor children, or directions for your funeral and burial. A will can direct an executor to create a trust and appoint a trustee to hold assets for the benefit of particular persons, for example, for minor children until they reach majority or a specified age.

A will must be signed and witnessed as required by state law. Its implementation requires a legal process. It must be filed with the probate court in your jurisdiction and carried out by your designated executor. The document is publicly available in the records of the probate court which oversees its execution and has jurisdiction over any disputes.

TRUST

Trusts are legal arrangements that provide for the transfer of assets from their owner, called the grantor or trustor, to a trustee. They set the terms for the trustee’s management of the assets, for distributions to one or more designated beneficiaries, and for the ultimate disposition of the assets. The trustee is a fiduciary obligated to handle the trust assets in accordance with the terms of the trust document and solely in the best interests of the beneficiaries.

Unlike wills which take effect upon death, trusts become effective upon the transfer of assets to them. A “living trust” can be created during a grantor’s lifetime. Or a trust may be a “testamentary trust” created after death in accordance with directives in the decedent-grantor’s will. Trusts are frequently used in estate planning to benefit, and provide for the distribution of assets to, the heirs of the grantor.

Trusts can be revocable or irrevocable. During their lifetimes, grantors can create revocable trusts which they can alter, amend, or terminate at any time. A grantor of a revocable trust can serve as its trustee. The grantor effectively continues as the owner of the trust assets for tax purposes. The trust document can provide for a successor trustee, for example, upon a grantor-trustee’s death or disability, and include instructions for the subsequent management and transfer of the trust assets. On the other hand, grantors give up their ownership rights to assets when they transfer to them an irrevocable trust, i.e., one which they do not control and cannot alter. Irrevocable trusts are managed by a trustee who is not the grantor.

Trusts can also be created for very specific and particular purposes such as charitable trusts and special needs trusts. The tax law provides special benefits for certain irrevocable trusts that benefit charities while providing some economic return to their grantor or beneficiaries. Charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trusts that meet the tax code's technical requirements can serve these dual purposes. These trusts' creation, management, and termination are subject to complex tax law requirements.

Persons concerned about the financial needs of individuals with disabilities (i.e., “special needs” that prevent or limit their ability to provide their economic support), can create “special needs trusts.” Special needs trusts are legal arrangements that enable such individuals to receive financial support from the trust for particular purposes without jeopardizing their eligibility for federal and state public assistance programs, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and other benefits. Because these trusts must meet complex requirements set by federal and state laws, legal experts should be consulted to ensure that their formation and operation will not disqualify the beneficiary from public assistance.