Miami Trust Attorney

Estate Planning Lawyer Serving Clients in Coral Gables

When considering long-term means of managing your funds, it may be in your best interest to create a trust. In addition to helping you secure a recipient of your assets after your passing, a trust can prove beneficial to all parties involved in your life. If you would like to learn more about creating or managing trusts, contact me, Susan E. Durre, for information. I am a Miami estate planning lawyer with more than 30 years of experience. I am dedicated to helping minimize the stress my clients face regarding the management of their assets, and I can offer the legal counsel you need.

What is a trust?

A trust is a legal entity that holds property or assets for the person who created it, known as the grantor . A grantor can establish a trust to hold resources for themselves or for a beneficiary—a person who will benefit from the trust. The person or organization that manages the trust is known as the trustee. If desired, a person can be both the grantor and trustee, in order to manage their own assets and property until they pass away, at which time the beneficiary will receive the trust.

People create trusts for a number of reasons:

• To avoid the probate process
• To lessen estate tax liability
• To protect certain assets of their estate
• Other benefits available with certain types of trusts

When a person creates a trust, they will no longer own the assets or properties that have been placed into the trust, unless they are the trustee. If your trustee is a bank, the bank owns the objects in the trust. Depending on the type of trusts you establish, you may or may not have access to the items in the trust after it is created. Because of this facet of trusts, it is in your best interest to secure the help of a qualified attorney, such as myself, to make the most of your assets.

To learn more, contact Miami Estate Planning Attorney , Susan E. Durre.

Types of Trusts

Some of the most common types of trusts are living, testamentary, revocable, and irrevocable trusts. Though these all incorporate the elements discussed above, they are different on account of their function. In many cases, the primary differences between types of trusts involve the access various parties have to materials handled under the trust, and how these will be distributed during and after the life of the grantor.

Functions of common trusts include:

• Living trust: Created and carried out while you are alive (For more information, see the healthcare advance directives page).
• Testamentary trust: Carried out after the grantor has passed away, based on instructions that you determined while they were living
• Revocable trust: A revocable trust can be changed, added to, or stopped at any point in time by the grantor. However, a trust must specify if it can be altered or eliminated.
• Irrevocable trust: In the absence of information needed to make it revocable, this type of trust cannot be touched in any way by the grantor.

Of course, there are a wide variety of trusts that may be used to manage your estate. Other types of trusts include charitable trusts, dynasty trusts, and spendthrift trusts. If you would like to learn more about trusts and their functions, read the Trusts FAQ's page.

Avoiding the Probate Process with a Trust

There are a number of ways to avoid the probate process for your assets and property. One method of note makes use of a living trust. In this process, you will make yourself the living trustee of certain items and designate another person to be your successor trustee. Upon your passing, this person will become the trustee of the specified resources and can then distribute said goods to your beneficiaries.

Contact Miami-Dade County Lawyer Susan E. Durre

For more information on forming a trust, or for other ways you can minimize the effects of probate on your beneficiaries after your passing, contact my firm. I have more than three decades of experience as an estate planning lawyer in Coral Gables, and I can help you make the most of your asset management. If you need advice regarding trust administration, or would like help determining the best type of trust for you and your beneficiaries, please contact my firm as soon as possible. I offer free consultations and can provide the legal guidance you need.