Sherrills Ford Trusts Lawyer

Trusts Attorney in Sherrills Ford, NC

A trust is a powerful tool for managing your estate and ensuring that your final wishes are executed while protecting your loved ones. A Sherrills Ford trusts lawyer can help you create and manage a trust solution that is tailored exactly to your goals and the needs of your loved ones.

What Is a Trust?

A trust is a legal structure where the trustee manages assets on behalf of another person, the beneficiary. The individual who establishes the trust is known as the grantor. Trusts are essential tools in estate planning and ensure a smooth transfer of property, provide for family members with disabilities or special needs, or manage philanthropic donations.

Unfortunately, only 24% of people in the United States have a will or trust in place, a number that has been declining over the past few years.

Main Categories of Trusts

Trusts are typically categorized into two main types based on how flexible they are:

• Revocable trusts (living trusts): The grantor maintains the ability to change, modify, or terminate the trust process during their lifetime. This type is frequently used to avoid probate and allow the grantor to retain control over their assets.
• Irrevocable trusts: Once an irrevocable trust is established, the terms are difficult to change or sometimes can’t be changed at all. In return for this, irremovable trusts provide even greater protection for assets.

Common Trusts Under North Carolina Law

When selecting the right trust for a grantor’s situation, there are many common types that others in North Carolina utilize for their estate planning, such as:

• Living trusts: These are used for more flexible asset management and probate avoidance while the grantor is still alive.
• Testamentary trusts: These trusts only become effective after the grantor’s death as per their will.
• Special needs trusts: Designed to protect assets for loved ones with special needs or disabilities without jeopardizing their public benefits.
• Charitable trusts: Used to achieve a grantor’s philanthropic goals.
• Pet trusts: Allow owners to ensure the future care of their animals.

What Are the Benefits of a Trust?

Creating a trust is a powerful way for grantors to manage their legacy and ensure that all their assets are properly managed upon death. The benefits that grantors and their beneficiaries will have from trusts include:

• Avoiding probate: This is one of the most substantial benefits of utilizing trusts in estate plans. Assets held in a trust can bypass the lengthy, costly, and public probate court process with the Catawba County Clerk of Superior Court. Beneficiaries can receive and retain their inheritance faster.
• Enhanced privacy: Unlike a will, the terms and assets within a trust are confidential among everyone involved.
• Distribution flexibility: Trusts can give grantors granular control over how and when their assets are distributed. Grantors can set specific conditions (such as reaching a certain age, graduating, or achieving a financial milestone) before a beneficiary can receive their inheritance.
• Superior asset protection: Irrevocable trusts can safeguard assets against creditors, lawsuits, or high medical or end-of-life costs.
• Tax planning opportunities: For some people, trusts can be used strategically to reduce potential estate tax liabilities by transferring assets out of the taxable estate. Estate taxes can be burdensome on beneficiaries, as they follow the 4.5% individual income tax rate under C. Gen. Stat. § 105-153.7.
• Protecting vulnerable heirs. Grantors can appoint a trustee to manage distributions for beneficiaries who are minors, have disabilities or special needs, or are simply not equipped to handle a lump-sum inheritance.

Why You Need a Sherrills Ford Trusts Lawyer

Hiring a trusts lawyer in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, can help ensure that your estate plan is legally sound and is optimized to fit your goals and needs while still adhering to North Carolina law. Without the legal support of a trust lawyer like Thomas & Webber Law at the Lake, you run the risk of errors that could mean your beneficiaries may need to take your assets to probate.

An attorney can provide the necessary knowledge to navigate the complex requirements of the law and give you peace of mind that your wealth will be managed and distributed exactly as you intend.

About the Team at Thomas & Webber

The team at Thomas & Webber is committed to providing clients with first-class service and a knowledgeable and professional guiding hand through their trust and estate planning needs. Our firm wants to help clients make smart legal decisions and ensure that their real estate and estate planning needs go as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

FAQs

What Is a Trust and How Does it Work?

A trust in North Carolina is an agreement where a grantor transfers assets to a trustee to manage for the benefit of the grantor’s beneficiaries. The trustee is legally obligated to follow the trust document rules about asset management and distribution. Many people utilize trusts for asset management, to avoid the probate process, asset protection, and to more effectively structure their estate planning.

What Is an Irrevocable Trust?

An irrevocable trust is an estate planning tool that a grantor uses to transfer assets to a trust and then give up control of the assets. The primary benefit of this is to protect these assets against creditors while also reducing the size of their estate, potentially minimizing estate taxes or qualifying for benefits like Medicaid.

What Is a Revocable Living Trust (RLT)?

A revocable living trust is a trust that is created during a grantor’s lifetime that can be changed at any time. Upon the grantor’s death, the assets will pass directly to the named beneficiaries, which can help them avoid the lengthy and expensive probate process while also maintaining privacy and keeping control over the grantor’s wealth distribution.

Who Should I Choose as My Trustee?

Who you choose as a trustee is up to you. But it should be someone whom you believe is trustworthy, organized, and capable of managing financial assets for a long time. Many people choose family members, friends, or even corporate trustees like banks or designated trust companies. Corporate trustees may bring additional knowledge to the table, but they may be more costly than choosing a family or friend.

Hire a Trusts Lawyer

Are you thinking about how to effectively protect and transfer your assets to your heirs? Establishing a trust may be the solution for your financial future. When you hire a trusts lawyer at Thomas & Webber, you get the experience of a knowledgeable and approachable team to help you achieve your asset protection and estate planning goals, so contact us today.