Take Control Of Your Estate Plan With A Customized Trust

While many believe that trusts are only for the wealthy, they can actually help those with more modest estates achieve a number of objectives, including protecting privacy, making the estate easier to administer, avoiding unnecessary probate and estate taxes and providing for underage beneficiaries or loved ones with special needs.

Trusts are powerful legal instruments, but they can also be complex. Thankfully, the rights attorneys, like ours at Walker Jones, PC, can help you create a trust that meets your specific objectives, protects your estate and provides for the ones you love. From our offices in Warrenton and Rappahannock, our trust attorneys serve clients across Virginia.

Examples Of Commonly Used Trusts

A trust is essentially an arrangement in which the person creating the trust authorizes another – the trustee, to manage the trust assets for the benefit of their beneficiaries. They are highly customizable and designed to meet specific objectives.

Our legal team routinely prepares a variety of trusts for estate planning clients. Some of the most common include:

Revocable living trusts – Also called “living trusts,” these hold title to your property, such as a home or other assets, but allow you to continue managing it during your lifetime. A revocable trust also allows you to make changes as your financial situation or life circumstances change. A properly designed trust can also help you plan for incapacity by giving the trustee authority to act on your behalf. In addition to avoiding the probate process, a living trust is a private document that does not require public recording.

Trusts for minors – Some trusts are designed to leave money for the benefit of your children or grandchildren while they are younger to support their education, medical expenses, or personal interests such as sports or creative arts. Upon reaching the age or achievement level you choose, such as graduating college, they may use the trust proceeds as they please.

Special needs trusts – These allow you to leave property to a trustee for the benefit of an individual with special needs, particularly those who receive public assistance such as disability or Supplemental Security Income. Because an inheritance could leave such individuals ineligible for needs-based benefits, a special needs trust can provide for their supplemental needs while preserving their eligibility for public benefits.

These are just three commonly used trusts, but there are dozens more. Our attorneys will take the time to learn about your estate planning needs and goals. Then, they can help you choose and establish the trust that is right for you.

Trusts Must Be Administered

As mentioned above, one of the biggest advantages of certain trusts is that they help avoid probate. By putting property into a trust, you remove it from the assets that make up your probate estate. Depending on how many assets are in the trust, this could greatly simplify the probate process or eliminate the need for it entirely.

It is important to note that while a living trust can avoid probate, it must pass through a trust administration phase to carry out the terms of the trust. At Walker Jones, PC, we routinely assist trustees with their trust administration duties and also work to ensure that the rights of beneficiaries are protected.

Discuss Your Trust Options With Our Attorneys Today

Our skilled estate lawyers at Walker Jones, PC, are ready to help you explore your legal options and create a thorough estate plan, including one or more customized trusts. To schedule your initial consultation, contact our offices in Warrenton and Rappahannock. You can reach out online or call 540-595-3657.

Meet Our Virginia Wills, Trusts And Probate Attorneys

Robert DeT. Lawrence, IV

Michael T. Brown

Hanna Lee Rodriguez

Anna L. Ritter

Walker Jones, PC, serves clients throughout Virginia, including Fauquier, Rappahannock, Culpeper, Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, Warren, Winchester, Frederick, Clarke, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg, Madison, Orange and Albemarle.