Interest rates are currently at an all-time low, making it an imperative time to consider all the potential estate planning options that you may have. Low interest rates provide an advantageous opportunity to utilize grantor-retained annuity trusts, also known as GRATs. GRATs are an instrument used to transfer appreciating assets,…
A will cannot always handle the wide range of issues that arise when planning your estate. A revocable living trust, commonly called a living trust (or “inter vivos trust”), is created during your lifetime and allows you to create a plan to manage your assets and protect you when you…
Charitable donors are frequently in pursuit of a means for establishing a lifetime philanthropic legacy and effective estate planning. The utilization of a charitable trust provides a strategic option. The donor may choose to set up a trust during his or her lifetime (termed an “inter vivos” trust) or a…
Based on Florida’s statutory scheme, it would seem that a Florida court, given the same underlying facts, would reach the same result as the Massachusetts court in Marsman. If a life beneficiary-on the verge of being destitute-requested a distribution from a trust with a clause that directed the trustee to…
What happens if the life beneficiary contacts the trustee and demands that the trustee invade the trust corpus and distribute funds for the life beneficiary’s maintenance and support, but the remainder beneficiaries object? Aside from being bound to “administer the trust in good faith” and “act impartially in administering the…
When creating a trust as part of one’s estate plan, it is not uncommon for the settlor to include provisions designed to provide support for a spouse or other loved one for the remainder of his or her life, with the remaining trust assets going to the settlor’s children, or…
Different types of trusts offer varying levels of protection from creditors, and just because an individual is the beneficiary of a trust containing a significant amount of assets, does not mean that creditors of that individual will be able to go after those assets if the individual fails to pay…
On Tuesday, June 4, 2013, a group of animal rights advocates spent their day at the Miami-Dade County Commission waiting for the final approval of the “Pets’ Trust,” only to hear that the city had deferred the decision for two weeks. The “Pets’ Trust,” which was overwhelmingly approved by voters…
A special-needs trust, also known as a supplemental-needs trust or a disability trust, is a trust established for an individual with a disability who qualifies for government benefits from that disability, in order to provide income supplemental to the government benefits without rendering the individual ineligible for the benefits. Special-needs…
In the past few years, a number of states, such as Nevada, Alaska, and South Dakota, have enacted legislation that permits the use of self-settled or “asset-protection” trusts. Basically, these trusts allow a person to be the beneficiary as well as the grantor in a trust. As the name implies,…