Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Family Protecting Uses Of The Spouse Trust

If you'd like to set up a spouse trust, you should first know its meaning. The specialists consider it to be a privilege given to one of the spouses for him/her to protect the family's estate. The chosen spouse is the only person able to take benefit of the estate. His part of trust stays revocable as the other spouse's becomes irrevocable.

Creating a spouse trust helps you avoid some taxes as it can be used for tax savings. The immediate successors of the trust are the owner's children. Normally, they are entitled to the heritance once the second spouse dies, as they become the legal beneficiaries.A family living trust can be associated to the so called marital trust.

It's an easy way to take for not being subject to probate.

You can choose your husband/wife as a co-trustee when setting up a living trust.

One can transfer his/hers share if both spouses give their consent upon the welfare.If you wander whether you have taken the right decision or not when creating a family living trust, you should get all the information you need to know.

Therefore, you should be aware that this is a revocable living trust.

Its owner is free to change it, but in most cases it is used in tax purposes, to manage the proceeds.

The only way to avoid probate, when having a family living trust, is to ask your lawyer for his legal advice.

Any attorney should know that when you set up a family living trust, as the owner of the revocable trust, you are entitled to make any changes you want: demand your belongings or replace its beneficiaries if needed. The living spouse has to obey when, according to the spouse trust, he is responsible of protecting the estate in his/hers follower's interest, if there are no any other requirements.

Once the second spouse is dead, the trust changes and becomes irrevocable, and the role of the second deceased spouse is taken by a trustee.

In the end, all of you should know that if you want your welfare to be preserved, you should hire a lawyer that knows your situation perfectly, in case you change your mind and you decide you don't want your spouse to be a co-trustee. Then you can be a solely owner for your own part of the spouse trust. Also the other spouse if entitled to revoke your decision, as the trust settles that you both are the owners.



Extra info, if you are interested:


Spouse Trust
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
Grantor Trust
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust