Trusts
What can trusts do? The better question is, what can’t they
do? Trusts are very flexible legal instruments with a wide
variety of applications. Trusts are most commonly used to
strategically change the entity who owns property, or to place
restrictions on the way money can be spent and for what purpose.
Pros
- Trusts are an essential tool to minimize estate taxes.
- Trusts can be used to influence
the behavior of beneficiaries.
- Trusts are one of the few ways to exercise control over
your money even after you are dead.
Cons
- There is often extra expense and inconvenience having
property titled in a trust.
- Power
over the trust resides in a Trustee. Sometimes this is
limiting;
and sometimes the Trustee wrongfully appropriates trust assets or
wastes them.
Types
There
are many types of trusts and many different ways to utilize this
powerful legal tool. Here is a sampling of the types of
available trusts that Jeff and Andrea have experience using:
- Revocable, non-revocable
- QTIP (qualified terminable interest property)
- Credit Shelter
- Spendthrift
- Charitable remainder
- Conservation
- Life Insurance
Did you know?
- Trusts
can be created during your lifetime (called “living trusts”) or can be
created through a will (called “testamentary
trusts”).
- A spendthrift trust for the benefit of your children can
protect their inheritance from their creditors.
- A
special needs trust can allow your disabled spouse or child to receive
benefits without spending the estate down to poverty level.
Contact Burkhart and Burkhart
today to learn how a trust might fit into your
best estate plan.
Contact Us
Phone:
(509) 529-0630
Fax:
(509) 525-0630
Mail:
PO Box 946
Walla Walla, WA 99362
In Person:
6½ N. 2nd Avenue, Suite 200
Walla Walla, WA 99362
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