Phone: 925.362.1725 | Fax: 925.263.1905 | 319 Diablo Rd., Ste. 202, Danville, CA 94526 | info@DanvilleLawGroup.com Trusts The Danville Law Group will create a Trust that is just right for your needs. There are many types of Trusts. Living Trust A Living Trust is an excellent way to avoid the cost and hassle of probate because the property you transfer into the trust during your life passes directly to the trust beneficiaries after you die, without court involvement. The successor trustee is the person you appoint to handle the trust after your death and is tasked with transferring ownership of trust assets to the beneficiaries you named in the trust. A Living Trust is usually revocable because you retain the right revoke, alter or amend any provision of the trust during your lifetime. Upon the grantor’s death, the trust will become irrevocable to ensure the wishes of the grantor are followed. AB (Bypass) Trust An AB Bypass Trust allows couples to reduce or avoid estate taxes. Each spouse puts his or her property in an AB trust. When the first spouse dies, his or her half of the property goes to the beneficiaries named in the trust -- commonly, the grown children of the couple -- with the crucial condition that the surviving spouse has the right to use the property for life and is entitled to any income it generates. The surviving spouse may even be allowed to spend principal in certain circumstances. When the surviving spouse dies, the property passes to the trust beneficiaries. It is not considered part of the second spouse's estate for estate tax purposes. Using this kind of trust keeps the second spouse's taxable estate half the size it would be if the property were left directly to the spouse. This type of trust is also known as a bypass or credit shelter trust. Qualified Terminable Interest Property (QTIP) Trust A QTIP Trust is a type of trust for wealthy married couples that allow a surviving spouse to postpone estate taxes. A QTIP Trust allows the surviving spouse to make use of the trust property tax-free. Taxes are deferred until the surviving spouse dies and the trust property is received by the final trust beneficiaries, who were named by the first spouse to die. Qualified Domestic Interest Trust A QDOT Trust is used to postpone estate tax when more than the amount of the personal federal estate tax exemption is left to a non-U.S. citizen spouse by the other spouse. Charitable Trust A Charitable Trust is a trust designed to make a substantial gift to a charity and also achieve income and estate tax savings for the person who creates the trust (the grantor). Spendthrift Trust A Spendthrift Trust is created for a beneficiary the grantor considers irresponsible about money. The trustee keeps control of the trust income, doling out money to the beneficiary as needed, and sometimes paying third parties (creditors, for example) on the beneficiary's behalf, bypassing the beneficiary completely. Spendthrift trusts typically contain a provision prohibiting creditors from seizing the trust fund to satisfy the beneficiary's debts. Life Insurance Trust A life insurance trust is a trust that is created for the purpose of owning a life insurance policy. If the insured is the owner of the policy, the proceeds of the policy will be subject to estate tax when he dies. But if he transfers ownership to a life insurance trust, the proceeds will be completely free of estate tax. Totten Trust A Totten Trust is a Savings Account Trust where there is a payable-on-death provision on the savings bank account. IRA Inheritance Trust™ An IRA Inheritance Trust is a standalone trust that allows the holder of an IRA to pass the tax deferred benefits to a beneficiary of the grantor's choosing. It is a Trust that allows the grantor to stretch-out the lifetime payments of an IRA plan over the expected lifetime of a younger beneficiary. This Trust is a useful device in larger estates and, if utilized correctly, can create a legacy for in grantor over multiple generations. Permission granted by Kavish, Minor & Otis. © 2012 Danville Law Group Created by WebOutsidetheBox.com