Do I Really Need A Trust Attorney?

Posted by smith clea on February 13th, 2020

WHAT IS A TRUST?

A revocable living trust is a legal instrument that is used to manage your property during your lifetime and to distribute your estate/ property after you pass away.

A revocable living trust is established by a written legal document, which appoints a “trustee” to administer the trust. Generally you act as trustee of the trust while you are still alive. Typically you will assign a “successor trustee” - usually a spouse or a close family member. The successor trustee will take over your responsibilities and administer the property you transferred into the trust AFTER you die. The revocable living trust gives clear and detailed instructions on how the property is to be managed and eventually distributed.

Basic Understanding of a Living Trust

To understand the benefits of a living trust, it is usually helpful to who is included in a trust, and the information and assets that go into a living trust.

I.   Grantor – this is the creator of the trust.

II.  Trustee - this who is in charge of managing the trust. In general, while the grantor of the trust is still alive, they act as trustee.  

III. Successor Trustee - this who will take over management of the trust and distribute the property when the original trustee passes away or becomes incapacitated. This is generally a spouse, close friend, or adult child.

IV.  Beneficiaries - all the people who will get the property of the trust (similar to the beneficiaries of a will).

V.   Name of the trustees who will manage any property left to young beneficiaries. Generally, when children or young adults inherit property from a trust, there is a delegated trustee to manage the property for them until they become mature enough to manage it themselves.

After your trust is drafted with all of the pertinent information, you should sign it in front of a notary.  To make it effective, use a deed or standard transfer document to transfer the property of the trust into the trustee's name.

The drafting and funding of a trust is a very complex process, which is why hiring a trust attorney is advisable. A trust lawyer will be of great help as they are trained and qualified in this field.

When hiring a trust attorney, you should ideally consider searching on the internet and have a basic understanding your assets and how a living trust can help protect those assets.  You can search on the internet for:

• trust attorney in my area, as accessibility is important
• trust attorney and legal consultants
• setting up a living trust
• will vs trust
• cost of a trust attorney
• cost of setting up a trust
• how much does it cost to maintain a trust

A trust attorney by virtue of his training, qualifications and experience can save you from lot of hassles in the future by ensuring that the trust is drafted properly and is legally binding.

Get your Trust Drafted by a professional Consult rochester law center