PLANNING FOR TRUSTS/TRUST INCOME TAX PREPARATION

An integral part of estate tax planning is understanding the intricacies of Trusts.

Trusts are an important financial management tool for some persons ... Trusts do not benefit everyone. One more time: some persons need Trusts, others do not.

Years ago many Trusts were established mainly for tax reduction purposes ... today, however, most income tax benefits are gone.

You may need a Trust to:

• Designate a manager for your assets when you are not able to do so because of age, mental or physical incompetence. Of course, the Trust must be established prior to reaching incompetence.
• Assure a lifetime income to yourself.
• Provide for the distribution of your estate without the need of probate court interference.
• Protect the inheritance of your children with a former spouse.
• Shelter your assets above your Estate Tax exclusion.

A Trust is a legal document that should be created with the assistance of an estate tax attorney. A word of caution ... not all attorneys are estate tax attorneys.

A Trust is an agreement under which one person (or more) places assets under the Trust’s name (the grantor), designates a person (or persons) to manage the assets (the trustee(s)), for the benefit of someone (the beneficiary(ies)).

There are generally two classes of Trusts: revocable (the grantor can change and terminate the Trust) and irrevocable (the grantor cannot change or terminate the trust). You probably have heard of many different types of trusts ... they all fall within these two classes.

 

Do You Need A Trust?

Depends on your particular set of financial circumstances. Several of our clients need only a Power of Attorney, a Will and a Medical Directive.

We assist our clients in identifying the Estate planning documents they need to protect their assets and to assure that their wishes on the distribution of those assets are carried out.

Moreover, we prepare the federal income tax and state (all states) income tax returns of our clients’ trusts.

 

Fees

We always provide written estimates for our services before we start working with a client ... we do not give verbal estimates. Please call us for additional information.