Trusts can be effective tools for assisting and making life easier for a surviving spouse. They can also be used as part of a strategy to reduce estate settlement costs. People might do an excellent job of managing their assets when they are active and alert, but when their health fails, they might wish to assign the management of their assets to a trustee through a trust instrument. If the estate of the first to die is large and will flow directly to the surviving spouse, especially if the surviving spouse is elderly and inexperienced in investing and managing assets, a trust might be the most desirable method of meeting the surviving spouse’s and children’s present and future interests. A trust is a legal relationship. Unlike a corporation, a trust is not considered to exist as an entity separate from the people that own it and control it. A trust is created when it is signed, or it can be created orally. It can be funded anytime. In a trust, assets are entrusted to a trustee who holds legal title and manages the assets until they are distributed to the eventual beneficiary. The terms of the trust describe how income from the assets and principal are to be distributed and managed. The trustee can be a bank, a trust company, another professional, or one or more family members (spouse, son, daughter, or self).
Usually the trustee is someone trusted by the trust creator (the settler or grantor). The trustee should be capable of managing the assets entrusted to him or her by the creator, until the assets are distributed to the benefactors. Beneficiaries can receive income from a trust during the trust’s existence, and/or receive assets when the trust is dissolved. When a trust is set up by spouses, the surviving spouse usually receives the income from the assets that are in the trust; assets then go to the children when the trust is dissolved. When a trust is created, the creator determines the conditions under which the trust will be dissolved. In the case of creating a trust with a child as the beneficiary, some creators wish the trust to be dissolved when the child is capable of wisely spending or investing his or her inheritance. A trust can also be dissolved when the surviving spouse dies. In both instances, the benefactors can receive income from the assets in the trust, and have limited access to the principal, if needed, before the trust is dissolved.
If assets are to be transferred to a trustee, titled assets (cars, trucks, stocks, bonds, real estate, savings/checking accounts, certificates of deposit, insurance policies, retirement accounts, etc.) should be retitled, as titles need to be changed with each respective titling agency. Some banks will institute an early withdrawal penalty if the title of a certificate of deposit is changed before the certificate matures. Assets without titles need to be signed over to the trust. Then, at the termination of the trust, assets need to be retitled and transferred back to beneficiaries. In regards to transferring assets, the same processes that happen through probate occur with a trust. Transferring property through a trust rather than through probate is not necessarily simpler and might or might not allow the heirs to receive a larger portion of the inheritance, but the trust process is usually quicker. However, transfer of property through a trust is more private, as there is no listing of assets and value of assets in the probate court or newspaper. Because the trust is a legal relationship not separate from the people that own and control it, assets transferred to a trust need to be put into the name of the trustee, not into the name of the trust. Transfers of title into the name of the trust might be a void transfer.
Types of Trusts
Assets can be transferred into a trust directly while one is living (these trusts are known as “inter-vivo” or “living trusts”), or assets can be directed into a trust by one’s will (these are called “testamentary trusts”). Living trusts that can be changed or revoked by the settler are called “revocable,” while those that cannot be changed or revoked are called “irrevocable.”
Revocable Living Trusts
Property placed in a revocable living trust can be returned to the creator by revoking the trust. Since the creator has the power to pull the assets back, when the creator’s estate is settled, assets in a revocable living trust are inventoried, appraised, and included in and federal estate tax calculations.
Irrevocable Living Trusts
When an irrevocable living trust is created, the creator has given the assets to the trustee. The creator no longer has control over the assets, or the legal right to control them in the future, unless the creator is the trustee. Assets in an irrevocable living trust are not subject to estate taxes unless the creator is also the trustee or has retained other rights.
Totten Trust (Payable-on-Death Accounts)
This is even easier than setting up a revocable living trust. If you have a bank account, you can simply turn it into a Totten trust by signing a form that your bank provides that designates the beneficiaries that you wish to receive the contents of the account. Totten trusts avoid probate and are very efficient at transferring property to your beneficiaries. In addition, Totten trusts can often be set up to pass securities (stocks and bonds) as well as bank accounts.
Trusts have been used to minimize federal estate taxes while providing security to a surviving spouse. One strategy to do this is to create a trust and write the wills of both spouses so that their assets pour over into the trust when the first spouse dies. In other words, the assets are willed to the trust rather than to the surviving spouse. The surviving spouse then gets the income from the trust and has limited rights to the principal, but the property in the trust is not in the surviving spouse’s estate. This is one way to have the first to die spouse’s assets pass through estate settlement and be charged estate settlement costs only once instead of twice if passed from the first to die to the survivor. This strategy no longer reduces federal estate taxes due to the portability of the federal estate tax exclusion, but it still reduces other estate settlement costs. A new provision in the federal estate tax law might reduce the use of trusts in estate planning.
Another very effective use of trusts is to make the trust the owner and beneficiary of life insurance. This might reduce estate settlement costs since the proceeds are not subject to federal estate taxes (in certain cases), appraisal, probate costs, or attorney fees (in certain cases). To minimize estate taxes yet provide for a surviving spouse, a trust might be utilized. However, if a trust is used to avoid probate, it should be done in the appropriate situations and for the correct reasons. One appropriate reason for living trusts is privacy. When an estate is settled, property being transferred, along with its appraised value, is often listed in the newspaper and at the county courthouse. However, if the property has already been transferred to a trust, it is not owned by the deceased at the time of death; therefore, it is not listed in the newspaper or at the courthouse. Living trusts are only one of several ways to avoid probate. Other methods include joint ownership of real property with rights of survivorship (JTRS), owning property such as retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, having payable on death (POD) accounts, giving before death, and owning life insurance policies with a named beneficiary. Probate might also be avoided by using a transfer on death (TOD) designation for stocks, bonds, other securities, real estate, and automobiles. Unfortunately, the laws of Ohio are not uniform as to each of these asset categories. For example, with any security, you can specify that if the intended beneficiary predeceases you, the predeceased beneficiary’s share will pass to the beneficiary’s lineal descendants, per stripes. However, with real estate, you have to specifically name the contingent beneficiaries. Accordingly, if one of your children has another child after you set up the deed, you will need to prepare a new deed to reflect a new contingent beneficiary. If these limitations are not of concern, you should be able to avoid probate for all titled assets without going to the expense of a trust.
Typical probate fees are estimated to be between $150 and $400. Probate fees are negligible, so avoiding probate to avoid probate fees might not be appropriate. Executor fees are another settlement cost. An executor in the probate process performs functions similar to those of a trustee for a trust. In general, the more time spent and the more management required of a trustee, the higher the fees (assuming the fees are accepted). Assuming that a family member is the executor or trustee, the fees are not a concern. However, trustee fees might be higher if a bank or trust company performs the function. Avoiding probate to avoid executor fees is not advantageous since trustee fees might be as much as or higher than executor fees. An appraisal is needed if tax forms have to be filed. An appraisal might be necessary when assets are placed into a living irrevocable trust, as gift tax forms might need to be filed. So the appraisal fee is often incurred even if probate is avoided with a trust instrument. Attorney fees are often a large portion of estate settlement costs. However, attorney fees will be charged when property is passed on to others through the probate process or through a trust. Also, to settle an estate, some attorneys charge by the hour. Others base their fees on a percentage of probate property only, and some base their fees on both probate and non-probate property. Although the percentage charged for non-probate property is generally lower than the percentage charged for probate property, one cannot automatically assume that non-probate property will not be included in the attorney fee calculation. Attorneys also charge to create and dissolve trusts. Property must be retitled into the trust when it is put in, and it must be retitled out of the trust when the trust is dissolved. Retitling might or might not be included in the fee charged by the attorney who created the trust. Therefore, attorney fees might not be reduced when avoiding probate by the use of a living trust. If you are considering a living trust to save attorney fees, consider the total cost of creating and dissolving the trust. In general, with a living trust, you pay attorney fees up front, but you also pay after death to dissolve the trust. If assets are handled by probate, the court oversees their retitling and transferring. If assets are put into a trust, an attorney has to do their retitling and transferring when the trust is dissolved.
Steps to an Estate Plan
A checklist to help you take care of your family by making a will, power of attorney, living will, funeral arrangements, and more. Here is a simple list of the most important estate planning issues to consider.
• Make a will: In a will, you state who you want to inherit your property and name a guardian to care for your young children should something happen to you and the other parent.
• Consider a trust: If you hold your property in a living trust, your survivors won’t have to go through probate court, a time-consuming and expensive process.
• Make health care directives: Writing out your wishes for health care can protect you if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself. Health care directives include a health care declaration (“living will”) and a power of attorney for health care, which gives someone you choose the power to make decisions if you can’t. (In some states, these documents are combined into one, called an advance health care directive.)
• Make a financial power of attorney: With a durable power of attorney for finances, you can give a trusted person authority to handle your finances and property if you become incapacitated and unable to handle your own affairs. The person you name to handle your finances is called your agent or attorney-in-fact (but doesn’t have to be an attorney).
• Protect your children’s property: You should name an adult to manage any money and property your minor children may inherit from you. This can be the same person as the personal guardian you name in your will.
• File beneficiary forms: Naming a beneficiary for bank accounts and retirement plans makes the account automatically “payable on death” to your beneficiary and allows the funds to skip the probate process. Likewise, in almost all states, you can register your stocks, bonds, or brokerage accounts to transfer to your beneficiary upon your death.
• Consider life insurance: If you have young children or own a house, or you may owe significant debts or estate tax when you die, life insurance may be a good idea.
• Understand estate taxes: Most estates more than 99.7% won’t owe federal estate taxes. For deaths in 2017, the federal government will impose estate tax at your death only if your taxable estate is worth more than $5.49 million. (This exemption amount rises each year to adjust for inflation.) Also, married couples can transfer up to twice the exempt amount tax-free, and all assets left to a spouse (as long as the spouse is a U.S. citizen) or tax-exempt charity is exempt from the tax.
• Cover funeral expenses: Rather than a funeral prepayment plan, which may be unreliable, you can set up a payable-on-death account at your bank and deposit funds into it to pay for your funeral and related expenses.
• Make final arrangements: Make your end-of-life wishes known regarding organ and body donation and disposition of your body burial or cremation.
• Protect your business: If you’re the sole owner of a business, you should have a succession plan. If you own a business with others, you should have a buyout agreement.
• Store your documents: Your attorney-in-fact and/or your executor (the person you choose in your will to administer your property after you die) may need access to the following documents:
Will
Trusts
insurance policies
real estate deeds
certificates for stocks, bonds, annuities
information on bank accounts, mutual funds, and safe deposit boxes
information on retirement plans, 401(k) accounts, or IRAs
information on debts: credit cards, mortgages and loans, utilities, and unpaid taxes
Information on funeral prepayment plans, and any final arrangements instructions you have made.
The Importance of Estate Planning
Many people believe that having an estate plan simply means drafting a will or a trust. However, there is much more to include in your estate planning to make certain all of your assets are transferred seamlessly to your heirs upon your death. A successful estate plan also includes provisions allowing your family members to access or control your assets should you become unable to do so yourself.
Here is a list of items every estate plan should include:
Will/trust
Durable power of attorney
Beneficiary designations
Letter of intent
Healthcare power of attorney
Guardianship designations
In addition to these six documents and designations, a well-laid estate plan also should consider the purchase of insurance products such as long-term care insurance to cover old age, a lifetime annuity to generate some level of income until death, and life insurance to pass money to beneficiaries without the need for probate.
Get Legal Help Finding the Right Estate Plan for You
Probate laws are some of the oldest on the books. While the terminology and concepts may seem archaic, the good news is that you don’t have to figure this all out on your own. There are estates planning attorneys who can help you map out your estate plan and draft important documents. Get started on planning your estate by contacting an experienced estate planning lawyer.
Free Consultation with a Utah Estate Lawyer
If you are here, you probably have an estate issue you need help with, call Ascent Law for your free estate law consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.
8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088 United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506
Recent Posts
How Soon Must A Probate Be Filed?
