Arizona Family Trust Lawyer
Our Arizona Family Trust Lawyer
Our Arizona family trust lawyer can explain that an Arizona Family Trust is a legal document that is either created during your lifetime (i.e., an Inter Vivos Trust commonly referred to as a Living Trust) or is created after your death (i.e., a Testamentary Trust). The Arizona Family Trust controls the disposition of your assets among your heirs and provides you with significantly greater control over how and when your assets are distributed to your heirs that can be accomplished with only a Will. A Family Trust may also serve to provide protection from creditors under certain circumstances.
The person for whom the Arizona Family Trust is created is referred to as the Settlor of the Trust. The people who will benefit from the Trust are referred to as the Beneficiaries of the Trust. While the person responsible for administering the Family Trust, pursuant to the terms of the Trust, is referred to as the Trustee.
A Family Trust in Arizona may be either revocable or irrevocable. A Revocable Trust allows a person to revoke the Trust entirely and to then place the Trust assets back into his or her individual name. An Irrevocable Trust, however, precludes the person who created the Trust from revoking the Trust or removing the Trust property from the Trust.
A large majority of people choose to create a Revocable Trust. The small minority of people who choose an Irrevocable Trust typically do so for complicated financial and tax reasons, which are beyond the scope of the information provided on this website. The creation of a Revocable Trust, however, does not avoid estate taxes that may be assessed if your estate exceeds the permissible estate tax exemption amount.
Once created, the assets to be governed by the Arizona Family Trust must be titled in the name of the Trust. This process requires property and financial accounts to be titled into the name of the Trust, as well as a change in the beneficiary designations on life insurance policies and retirement accounts to list the Family Trust as the beneficiary of those assets.
An Arizona Family Trust has several advantages beyond simply avoiding probate court. A Family Trust may protect assets held in the Trust from certain creditors. The Trust also provides a mechanism to manage a person’s assets for the benefit of his or her children in the event that parent was to pass away.
The Family Trust may allow the Trustee to continue to hold and invest assets owned by the Trust for the benefit of the settlor’s heirs, such as children, well into the future such that distribution of the Trust’s assets can be delayed until, for example, children become old enough to responsibly manage the assets they will inherit.
A Family Trust in Arizona affords a person much greater control over how his or her assets are managed and/or disbursed to heirs. For example, a person may choose to withhold disbursement of 100% of an heir’s, such as a child’s, share of the estate until that person reaches a certain age or meets certain requirements, such as graduating from college.
As importantly, a properly drafted and funded Family Trust (i.e., assets are properly titled to the Trust) should avoid family from having to participate in a legal probate court proceeding; thereby saving the family the cost and attorney fees incurred in a probate proceeding.
Please contact our Scottsdale Arizona Family Trust lawyer today if you have any questions regarding a revocable family trust in Arizona at (480)947-4339.
How To Create a Family Trust in Arizona
There are many types of trusts that can be created for you and your family. One of the most popular types of trusts is called a discretionary revocable family trust. This trust will hold your property for the benefit of a family member or beneficiary and be paid out in increments or as a lump sum amount upon your passing. There are also living trusts, charitable trusts, and life insurance trusts. You may consider the following issues when setting up your Arizona Family Trust:
Establish a Trustee. You will be required to appoint one or more Trustees who will be responsible for managing your property and debts held within your Trust.
Establish an Executor. You will be required to name one or more Executors who will be responsible for managing the property and debts of the Trust, as well as to make distributions as directed by the Trust instrument upon your death.
Identify your intended beneficiaries. You will need to determine who your heirs will be, as well as determine whether those heirs will receive all of their inheritance in a lump sum payment and/or transfer of property or over a period of time.
Work with a qualified Arizona estate planning attorney to draft the Family Trust document. These legal documents will outline every aspect of your Arizona Family Trust and will include your directives regarding, among other things, the dates of distributions and the amounts given to the beneficiaries of the Trust.
Funding a Trust. You will need to begin placing the assets you own into the Arizona Family Trust, referred to as “funding” the trust, during your lifetime. Trust assets can be invested and managed by the Trustee.
It is completely fine to update and manage the trust throughout your lifetime. A qualified Arizona estate planning attorney can assist you in modifying the terms of your Family Trust, if necessary.
