An irrevocable trust can be one of your most important estate planning tools. There are many reasons why you may wish to create an irrevocable trust but there are also downsides that you should be aware of to this type of trust in addition to the advantages. 
If you are thinking of creating an irrevocable trust, you should talk with Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates about what is involved in the process and how you can ensure that your trust document is legally valid and will provide the protection that you need.
You should give us a call now to get help determining both if a trust is right for you and to better understand all of the protections that an irrevocable trust can provide.
Why Do You Need an Irrevocable Trust?
It may be beneficial for you to make an irrevocable trust because this type of trust can provide the most protection for your money and property.
While a revocable living trust allows you some protection for your assets — such as by making sure wealth can pass outside the probate process and ensuring someone will be in charge of managing assets if something should happen to you — it still leaves you vulnerable to many losses. A revocable living trust doesn’t provide complete protection because you still have control over trust assets and can still access them.
This means if a creditor comes after you, you could still lose trust assets. Or, if you need nursing home care, you could still find that the assets in the trust count as resources and disqualify you from getting Medicaid coverage until you have spent down your wealth.
However, it you have an irrevocable trust, you name someone else to serve as trustee and manage trust assets and you lose substantial control over the assets that you transfer to the trust. Since you neither own nor control the trust assets, you cannot just access them to pay creditor claims or to pay for a nursing home. As a result, the assets generally will not count for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility and should be safe from creditor claims if you have done the process of making an irrevocable trust correctly.
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can help you to make your trust document, to transfer trust assets into it, and to ensure that your irrevocable trust provides the protections that you expect. To find out more about the ways in which our firm can help you with all legal issues related to trust creation and related to asset protection, give us a call today.
Getting Help from a Trust Lawyer
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can assist you in determining if an irrevocable trust is the right legal tool for you to use to protect your assets and to provide for the people that you care about. Trust creation can be complicated, and deciding what kind of trust to create is a big deal. It is even more important that you are fully informed before you make an irrevocable trust because you cannot just change your mind if you decide you made a mistake.
To find out more about how our firm can help you with irrevocable trusts and other estate planning issues, you should join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online today to get personalized help and advice with all of your estate planning needs. Call now to learn more about how an attorney can help you.
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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