Congratulations on “finally” completing your trust! It can be a daunting process and few of us really want to spend time making plans around death, but I am willing to guess that, other than this uncertainty about what assets will be affected by the trust, you probably feel pretty good to have your planning in place.
When you ask what your trust “actually holds,” I believe what you are really asking is what assets will the trust control when you die or if you were to become incapacitated. The easiest answer is that if an asset has a named beneficiary like life insurance, annuities, 401(k) or an IRA, your trust does not control that asset.
However, in estate planning there are exceptions to almost every rule and sometimes insurance proceeds or IRAs are intentionally distributed to a trust on death. There can be damaging tax implications of having an IRA pay to a trust, so these need to be understood before naming your trust as beneficiary.
Simply put, assets that are governed by a trust usually include assets without a named beneficiary. When you worked with us to complete your plans, the services include preparation of a will, trust agreement, power of attorney for finances and an Advance Health Care Directive for medical decisions.
Additionally, we will assist clients in transferring title to their assets into the name of the trust. A deed moving title from your name to your trust name is signed and recorded for real estate.
Other assets that are normally tilted to the trust include investment accounts, savings accounts and, possibly, checking accounts.
If you complete the transfer of assets to your trust and have a power of attorney for finances, your personal representative — that trusted individual you have named as your agent, trustee and executor — should be able to step in quickly to help should you become incapacitated. Also, on your death, your representative should be able to complete the administration and distribution of your estate quickly, efficiently and without the court’s involvement.
Remember to review your estate planning on a regular basis with our office. This way, any loose ends can be tied up and you can also learn about new laws that may be of benefit to you and your family.
At the Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we’ve been minimizing risks for South Florida families for 35 years. We practice Elder Law – and only Elder Law. And we’ve designed pretty much every type of trust you can imagine for our families…along with other estate planning tools such as wills and asset protection, and assistance with long-term care planning, Medicaid, and the VA.
