MA estate planning attorneys frequently provide for a Living Trust as the heart of a person's estate planning. Estate planning would also typically is also known as a Revocable Trust.
It can give you several advantages over just having a Will. The advantages include these:
Tax Benefits of Irrevocable TrustGenerally, the tax benefits are available to married couples, or those with a long-standing relationship. The Living Trust would include providing a sub-trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse or partner. This sub-trust could provide income and principal to the survivor but with under broad conditions. The sub-trust is written to be excluded from the survivor's gross taxable estate. This exclusion of the sub-trust in the second estate would lower the survivor's estate tax, as the tax authority calculates this tax as a percentage of the total estate value. In short, the survivor gets the benefit of the sub-trust but the assets are NOT in the estate of the survivor. RETURN to Estate Planning Services page Non-Tax Benefits of Irrevocable Trust |
The Irrevocable Trust gives benefits apart from the above tax approach. It can accomplish these goals: Keep money out of the hands of underage or beneficiaries with issues (addiction, etc.)
Avoids the probate of a will
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