
Trusts.
Trusts are great tools for achieving most
estate planning goals. Basically, a Trust is simply a set of instructions for handling assets. It is very powerful,
though, allowing you to control how the assets are handled - when they are enjoyed and by whom. It is helpful
to think of a Trust as a set of written instructions or an arrangement for managing your affairs while you're alive and
well, during your disability, and after your death. Trusts may avoid probate, may avoid or reduce death taxes, and may be
customized to meet many of the estate planning goals described above.
Whether you have a Will or a Trust,
"funding" is fundamental. Funding is a lawyer's term for seeing that assets are properly titled, and beneficiary
designations are properly made, so that your estate plan will operate as intended. Many people make the mistake of setting
up a trust but forgetting to transfer the intended assets into it. For instance, if you want your house to be in the
trust, you need a new deed for the house - to "fund" the trust. If you fail to do that your house or other
assets veer off course to probate, or to a joint tenant, or to a designated beneficiary, and your estate plan may not work
the way you intended.