If you are looking to protect your assets or set the framework for your finances after you move on, you should consider the numerous benefits of trusts in Lombard. After speaking with a dedicated attorney, you could draft a plan for your estate that includes a trust. Contact an experienced trusts attorney at Estate & Probate Legal Group today.
Some reasons a person in Lombard might create a trust include avoiding probate. Avoiding probate means both the ability to avoid the decedent’s estate and avoid a guardianship. Trusts can build in protections during incapacity that allow their property to be used as they see fit in those circumstances, but the main one is that, when people want to avoid probate, their assets need to be in a trust or another non-probate asset.
However, the big one for that is the house. A lot of times, people have payable on death accounts with their children. They may have life insurance divided between their children, and their children are beneficiaries of their retirement plans, but then comes the house: they do not want to put their children on title to the house, so they keep it in their name. Even though all the other property may pass outside of probate, if a person dies and the house is in their name, then a probate estate needs to be opened in Illinois to deal with that piece of real estate.
A lot of times, people create a trust because they can actually transfer their house into the trust, and then when they die, their successor trustee can deal with their real property in addition to everything else. The second main reason is that when a person becomes incapacitated, a trust has a built-in feature: someone can take their place and use their money for their benefit.
There is a separate provision in there that states this. The alternative is a guardianship, which requires going to court. Their loved ones need to go to court to be appointed as their guardians so they have the authority to use their money to care for them.
A trust works differently from a bank account because a bank account can be a very simple way to handle money. If there is a beneficiary, or some sort of joint tenancy or payable-on-death provision, a bank account could pass property outside of probate very simply, but a trust essentially provides a whole slew of provisions and terms and conditions that they set during their life for how they want that money used. Trust accounts in the trust’s name must be administered in accordance with the trust terms. A Lombard trust essentially allows property to pass outside of probate, while also giving people much greater control over how it is handled and how they want the assets used.
People do not need to choose their attorneys when they create their trust. They may decide later who they want to help administer it. A lot of times, though, it is generally beneficial if the attorney who prepared the trust has some insight into what the clients were thinking prior to their death and what they were thinking about certain provisions in the trust. It may make sense to go to those same attorneys to help administer the trust, given the relationship. However, there is no requirement in Lombard, IL, that the attorney who drafted the trust must also assist in its administration.
Examples of things a person should consider before meeting with an attorney to create their trusts are essentially the same as those for meeting with an attorney to create a will. A trust may serve as a will substitute, and people need to decide where they want their property to go when they die. They would want to consider how they want that property to go. For example, do they want it to go to people outright? Do they want to keep it in other trusts? Who do they want to name as their successor trustees in the event they are incapacitated or in the event they pass away? Much of what people want may be included in the benefits of trusts, but meeting with an attorney in Lombard is the first step toward vetting the available options.
The benefits of trusts in Lombard are numerous. However, a trust still may not be your best option. To get a better understanding of the benefits of trusts and what other options you may have, you need to speak with a dedicated attorney. Legal help is one call away.
