Estate Planning | Making a Difference One Family at a Time

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Hartford trust lawyers can provide you with invaluable help with the trust creation process. Many people are not aware of the benefits of a trust and do not know when they should make one, so it is a good idea to talk with an attorney about whether a trust should be a part of a comprehensive estate plan that you create. Hartford Trust lawyers

At Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates, our Hartford trust lawyers can provide you with insight into whether a trust is right for you. We can help you to select the best type of trust for your situation and can guide you through the process of creating and funding your trust so you can protect your assets, provide for your family, and get all of the benefits of trust creation.

It’s best to talk with an attorney about the specifics of your estate plan to determine if you should create a trust or not — and to determine what type of trust it makes sense to create. But, if you are not sure whether it is worth talking to a trust lawyer, read on to find some key situations when creating a trust could benefit you.

You Should Talk to a Hartford Trust Lawyer in These Situations

Some examples of the situations where you should strongly consider talking to a Hartford trust lawyer include the following:

  • If you have minor children you are leaving money to: If you are leaving money to kids who have not yet reached adulthood, it makes sense to talk with an attorney about creating a trust. The children cannot directly inherit and manage the funds because they aren’t legal adults, and a trust gives you the opportunity to determine who should be in charge of the wealth you’re providing to them. You can also provide specific and detailed instructions about how the trust assets should be used to enhance quality of life for the children and when they should receive their inheritance.
  • If you are leaving money to someone who is disabled: If you have a disabled loved one, you need to consider whether leaving an inheritance of money or property could cause a loss of access to means-tested benefits. You don’t want your loved one to lose Medicaid access because an inheritance results in that person having too many financial resources. An attorney can help you to make a special needs trust so that you can enhance quality of life for your disabled loved one, but not cause any means-tested benefits to be lost.
  • If you have loved ones counting on an inheritance: Receiving an inheritance through the probate process can take a long time because probate typically lasts around a year. If your loved ones need the money or property that you are leaving them and you don’t want them to be forced to wait a long time for probate to complete and assets to transfer, making a trust makes sense.
  • If you want to protect privacy: Assets that pass through the trust administration process do not have to go through probate. Probate is a court proceeding and a court record is made, which can become public. Keeping your affairs private is much easier with trust administration because no court hearings are necessary unless a problem arises.

There may also be many other circumstances where trust creation makes sense for you. The best way to determine if you should incorporate a trust into your estate plan — or if you should make use of other estate planning tools — is to talk with an experienced attorney about your goals for your assets and for protecting your loved ones.

Getting Help from a Hartford Trust Lawyer

A Hartford trust lawyer at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can provide personalized advice on whether these or other situations should prompt you to create a trust as part of your estate plan. We can also help you to identify the type of trust that is right for you, to fund the trust appropriately and to make a legally valid trust document that ensures you get the benefits you expect from a trust.

To find out more about how our firm can provide you with help with all legal issues related to trusts, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online to  get advice on trusts and on all aspects of the estate planning process.

 

Jeffrey A. Nirenstein, Estate Planning Attorney
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