Saturday, January 11, 2014

Why It Is Good Idea To Have An Asset Protection Trust

By Marissa Velazquez


It is important to protect the assets you have accumulated over a long period of time so that you will not lose them if you file for bankruptcy or if you are sued among other things. One of the ways to protect your investments is setting up an asset protection trust. This is contract between a grantor and a trustee.

The grantor is the person who wants to protect his or her assets and the trustee is the person who will manage them for the benefit of all beneficiaries. The trust contract requires the grantor to transfer assets to the trustee. Trusts can be revocable or irrevocable and can be included in a will to take effect when the grantor passes away.

Protecting your investments effectively through trusts is possible if you make sure that the trustees are independent, have a spendthrift provision and they allow trustees to make distributions when necessary. It is possible to change revocable trusts at any time and therefore, governments consider any investments held in such trusts to be taxable. The estate that you will leave behind after you die will not be exempted from taxation.

If you have revocable trusts, you may also be required to pay income taxes on the revenue generated by the investments that are held in them during your lifetime. Revocable trusts usually become irrevocable when a grantor becomes disabled or dies. If you place your investments into irrevocable trusts, they will be permanently removed from your estate and transferred to the trusts.

You can ask your trustee to pay income tax and capital gains on the trusts for you. After your demise, any investments you have in irrevocable trusts will not be taxed because they will not be viewed to be part of your estate. You can name a trustee to be solely responsible for managing your investment portfolio or choose to work with him or her at times especially when a major decision has to be made.

Grantors can also choose to assign full authority to the trustees to act on their behalf. They can choose individuals such as their relatives and friends or professionals like accountants or lawyers to be their trustees. Grantors can also choose entities that are experienced in money management, taxation or estate law to be their trustees.

Different types of trusts are meant to meet the different objectives and needs of investors. If your goal is to provide expert management of your affairs if you become incapacitated, you can opt for a living trust. This will allow you to maintain control of your estate and receive all benefits and income when you are alive. After you pass away, a designated successor trustee will distribute the remaining assets depending on the terms in the trust and avoid the probate that is associated with wills.

If you want to leave your estate to your grandchildren, you can opt for generation skipping trusts. An asset protection trust can help you protect your investments, reduce your tax obligations and effectively define how your estate should be managed. An attorney can help you determine which kinds of trusts are appropriate for our needs.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment