A Westport estate planning attorney can provide guidance to anyone who is making an estate plan and who wants to use trusts to provide for their loved ones in a better, more appropriate way than using a last will and testament. While a will allows you to dictate who should inherit, it does not give you any control over what happens to an inheritance once it is given to heirs or beneficiaries. A will also means that the assets must transfer during the probate process, which can be time consuming, and it does nothing to protect assets from losses due to things like estate tax.
If you have decided to create a trust, Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates will assist you in making the right type of trust and using a legally valid trust document. We can also provide representation to the trust administrator who is in charge of managing trust assets, overseeing the trust administration process and fulfilling the formal requirements necessary to officially transfer assets to new owners. The trust administrator has a lot of responsibility during the process of administering a trust, and we help to make sure that this process goes smoothly.
There is also one more person, or group of people, who is impacted by the creation of a trust besides the trust creator and the trust administrator. That person, of course, is the trust beneficiary – the individual who inherits the money or property that the trust was created to provide. While a trust beneficiary may not have a lot of formal legal obligations during the trust administration process and has no involvement in the trust creation process, his rights are impacted in many ways by the creation of a trust.
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates helps beneficiaries to understand what inheriting through a trust means to them, and provides assistance to trust beneficiaries who need help protecting their inheritance during the trust administration process.
What to Know About Being the Beneficiary of a Trust
If you are the beneficiary of a trust, you need to first know what type of trust was created and what the deceased trust creator’s instructions were in the trust document.
In some cases, a simple living trust is created primarily to facilitate the timely and cost-effective transfer of trust assets. If this is the case, then you don’t have any specific requirements to fulfill as the trust beneficiary. You will be provided notice of the trust administration process by the administrator and you should inherit when this process is complete.
You should strongly consider hiring a lawyer during the trust administration process, though, to make sure that the administrator does his job properly, manages assets appropriately, and moves the trust administration process along in a timely manner so you can receive your inheritance as soon as possible.
Sometimes, however, a trust will not just facilitate the timely transfer of assets to you. In other circumstances, a trust may limit when you can access the assets that are held within the trust or may require you to meet certain conditions before you can inherit. For example, if a spendthrift trust was created for your benefit, you won’t actually get access to the trust assets at all. Instead, you will be given a set amount of money or property at designated times in accordance with the instructions of the creator of the trust.
Trusts could also require you to meet specific conditions. For example, a conditional trust may allow you to inherit, but only after you get married or only after you have graduated from an educational program.
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates will review the terms of your trust and help you to understand exactly what your rights and obligations are. We’ll also help you to make sure that the trustee fulfills his obligations in keeping trust assets safe and using them to benefit your interests.
Getting Help from A Westport Estate Planning Attorney
A Westport estate planning attorney provides help with all aspects of inheritances. Whether you want assistance structuring an inheritance to best provide for your loved ones or you need help protecting an inheritance that has been provided to you, we can offer you the guidance and advice you need. Our experienced legal team understands the ins-and-outs of estate law in Connecticut and we are here to put our knowledge to work for you.
To find out more about the services that we provide, join us for a free seminar. If you are ready to get personalized help from a knowledgeable and compassionate legal professional, give us a call at 860-548-1000 or
contact us online today.
Mr. Nirenstein is licensed to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court. He is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations, and the Estate and Probate, Elder Law, Business Law and Real Estate Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association.
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