A trust provides many benefits when you want to protect others financially.

Reasons to establish a Trust Instead of a Will: 

1. Avoid probate.

2. Manage an inheritance for children who have special educational, medical, or physical needs; 

3. Provide for children who have substance addictions or can't manage money;  

4. Property ownership in other states; and

5. Lack of a trusted person who can settle your estate after you pass.

If you do not have a trusted loved one to administer your probate estate, a trust can streamline the transfer of property after death by naming a corporate fiduciary as the trustee, simplifying the transfers for your family members who live in other states or countries.

At Melinda Buck Brown, LLC, our trust attorney in Tennessee helps you figure out which trust will work best for you and your needs and then guide you through the entire process, which––depending on the amount and extent of assets and the instructions accompanying them––can be either a relatively quick or enduring one. 

To learn more about trusts and if you will need an estate planning lawyer in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to help you with it, contact our office today either using the online form or calling us directly at (865) 535-5335 to schedule a Consultation. 

Trusts as Part of an Estate Plan in Tennessee

A trust is a way for a property owner to pass their assets to someone else to protect the assets and to avoid the probate process, if applicable. The trustor, also referred to as the settlor or trust maker, is the owner of the property and transfers it to the trustee. The trustee manages the property for the benefit of someone else, known as the beneficiary. The beneficiary is a person or entity for whom the trust was established. 

Trusts can have multiple trustors (or trustmaker), trustees, and beneficiaries. Typically, a different person or entity serves each of these unique roles. Sometimes, though, the trustor can act as both the trustor and trustee. Likewise, in limited situations, the trustee can act as both the trustee and the beneficiary.

As part of an estate plan, a trust can be used to minimize estate taxes (for someone with high assets). But they offer other benefits, too, if well-crafted. A trust can keep your assets private even when you die because a trust does not need to go through probate, and probate is a matter of public record. Also, a trust can protect assets from creditors or help beneficiaries who cannot manage money well.

Whatever your need is for a trust, our estate planning lawyer can help make sure your trust is drafted in a way that benefits you and the intended beneficiaries.

Types of Trusts in Tennessee

Specific types of trusts that people can use to protect their assets or pass their property on to someone else come in many forms. However, all of these trusts are either revocable or irrevocable. 

Revocable trusts, also known as living trusts, allow the trustor to continue to alter the property in the trust. The trustor can even revoke the trust entirely which gives the trustor far more control over their property. With that control, though, comes a downside: because the trustor still has access to the property in the trust they created, creditors can often reach into the trust to satisfy debts owed to them.

Irrevocable trusts, on the other hand, cannot be changed or revoked once the trustor creates one. The trustor relinquishes control over the assets in the trust. Creditors cannot touch those assets once they are removed from your estate. 

Examples of Different Types of Trusts

Just to give you an idea of what types of trusts there are to address your specific needs, here's a list of some of the most common.

• Medicaid asset protection trust
• Charitable trust
• Constructive trust
• Special needs trust
• Spendthrift trust
• Tax by-pass trust
• Totten trust
• Miller trust

You can also create a trust specifically for your minor children, grandchildren, pets, farmland, and even your gun collection. 

Benefits of a Trust in Tennessee

As mentioned, trusts are beneficial to avoid probate and provide for loved ones when you no longer can. By using a trust (in addition to a will or in lieu of a will), assets of a trust pass directly to the trust's beneficiary when the trustmaker dies. This process means the assets do not go into the trustmaker's estate – they are transferred inter vivos, or between living people. Using a trust to pass property to your heirs avoids the potential legal complications of dividing your estate, a contested will, and probate.

A trust also gives you the ability to create instructions and conditions for asset distribution upon your death–giving you control over your assets even when you are not here. So, if you have a child whom you want to finish college before disbursement of funds or if you want only a certain amount of funds disbursed at different times in the child's life, you get to decide those things. Further, you can identify a successor trustee––someone you know who can manage the trust according to the terms and conditions established in the trust document.

Contact a Trusts Attorney in Tennessee Today

Whether you have some or a lot of assets, a trust may be just the thing you need to manage those assets and to decide what's done with them upon your death. Our trusts lawyer in Oak Ridge will consider what you want the trust to do for you, review the assets you want to transfer to the trust, and guide you through the entire process, providing solid legal advice as you need it or the situation demands it. 

To learn more about trusts and how a specific trust can benefit you, contact an estate planning attorney.  Contact Melinda Buck Brown, LLC either online or at (865) 535-5335 to schedule a Consultation.