Pocatello Estate Planning includes so much more than just having a written last will and testament. Often, having valid trust as part of your Pocatello estate plan allows you to not only provide yourself while you are alive, but also to take care of your loved ones after you die. Our team of Pocatello attorneys has helped estate planning clients for more than 70 years. We have created and updated customized trusts as a way of helping each of our clients meet their specific needs. Our goal is to understand what each client wants and to carry out their wishes.
To help our clients we have created a team of Pocatello estate planning attorneys who use their experience and expertise on behalf of each client. We don’t use a cookie cutter approach when it comes to estate planning. Rather, our team that is made up of partners Randy Budge and Lane Erickson and attorneys Nate Palmer and Dave Bagley, each help our clients determine for themselves what their specific needs are. We then consider every estate planning tool available, including using trusts, so that our clients’ have a plan that carries out their specific wishes. Each lawyer on our team has earned the highest ratings possible from several legal ranking services including Martindale & Hubbell, Justia, and AVVO.
We can help you determine whether a trust is needed as a part of your customized estate plan. If so, we assist you in completing the three most important parts of using a trust. These three things are:
1. Get the Paperwork DoneUsing a trust, as part of your customized estate plan, can provide you with many benefits. However, in order for your trust to actually do anything, all of the paperwork used to create the trust must be complete. To actually create a valid trust the paperwork must name a grantor who is sometimes know by the name “trustor”. This person is the “creator” of the trust and who provides not only the instructions for the trust but also its terms and conditions. Additionally, the trust documents must also name a person or a group of people as the beneficiary of the trust. This person or group of people are identified to be the recipients of the trust property, distributions of income, or money while the trust operates. In order of the paperwork to be complete, it must also include a description of what the trust purpose is. In other words, the trust should provide clear written instructions about how the trust works and how the trust property should be handled.
It is common for a client to come in for a review of their estate planning who provides a trust that was prepared that is incomplete. If any of the paperwork is not done correctly or completely the trust may never have been created. While creating a trust is not hard it must be done correctly. Because each trust is as unique as the person creating it, we recommend that each person who wants to create a trust use a qualified and experienced attorney who can both review your trust or can create a customized trust for you based on your needs and instructions.
2. Transfer Property or Money Into the TrustCreating a trust alone is not enough to have a valid trust. Rather, the next step to creating a valid Pocatello trust is to fund the trust. This is where most trusts fails. Like a pie, completed the trust paperwork is like making a pie crust. However, a pie crust alone is not a pie. To have a real pie, the pie crust needs pie filling. Funding a trust is like putting the pie filling into the piecrust.
While it may sound difficult, funding a trust is really quite simple. Many of our clients ask what can be put into a trust? A trust can own and hold the same types of assets an individual can. A trust can be made up of real property, money, investments, vehicles, business interests, collectibles, and so forth. However, in order to transfer these items into a trust, certain legal steps must often be taken. This is where our team of Pocatello estate planning attorneys can help so that your trust is both completed and is properly funded.
3. Name Capable and Willing TrusteesAfter creating and funding your trust, the next step that is required for a valid trust is to name a person as the trustee. Keep in mind that no law will force a person to act as a trustee if they don’t want to do it. To cover this possibility and make sure that your trust will still be able to work, a well-written trust should name both a primary trustee and successor trustees. By doing this your trust will still operate the way you want even if the first person you have chosen as trustee either can’t or won’t do it.
Enlist a Pocatello Estate Planning Attorney to Help YouOur team Pocatello Estate Planning lawyers can help you. Whether you are seeking to create or review a trust as a part of your own customized Estate Plan or would like to help a family member or loved one, we are available to discuss your options and answer your questions at an initial consultation. Call us toll free at 877.232.6101 or 208.232.6101 for a consultation. You can also email us directly at racine@racinelaw.net. We will answer your questions and help you solve your Pocatello Estate Planning problems.