PLEASE NOTE: We are able to fully assist you during these difficult times. We are offering our clients and prospective clients the ability to meet with us via telephone or through video conferencing. Please call our office at 914-269-2367 so that we may assist you.

We are pleased to announce the reopening of our White Plains office location for in-office meetings. We are following the applicable New York State regulations for Phase 2 re-openings. These regulations limit in-person gatherings, so although we will hold a select number of in-person meetings, we will continue to encourage telephone and video-conference meetings whenever possible. We have implemented health and safety procedures for all staff, as well as those clients who come into the office. Please click here for in-office meeting procedures.

Elder Planning Isn't Just For The Elderly

What are the two types of living trust?

Estate planning can be overwhelming due to the many options. Most Americans are familiar with the function of a will. However, far fewer know how powerful living trusts can be when it comes to estate planning.

Living trusts are very similar to wills in some ways but offer different advantages. According to Experian, there are revocable and irrevocable trusts.

Revocable trusts

This is the most flexible variety of living trust. Revocable trusts allow you to make as many changes to the trust as you would like, provided you are still alive. Anything that you put into a revocable living trust remains your property.

The biggest advantage to a revocable living trust is that anything that is in the trust will bypass probate. This means your beneficiaries will get what you bequeath to them faster. Given that probate can take months or years, revocable living trusts are a powerful and popular estate planning tool.

Irrevocable trusts

This type of trust is far less flexible than the revocable trust. Anything that you put into an irrevocable trust is no longer your personal property; rather, it is the property of the trust. You cannot make any changes to an irrevocable living trust once you create it.

However, the government may not apply estate tax to anything in an irrevocable living trust. Likewise, creditors cannot go after these assets, since they no longer belong to you.

Understanding all of your options when estate planning is challenging. However, guided use of living trusts can ensure that your assets go where you want them, when you want them to.

Archives

FindLaw Network