Estate Planning, Is a Trust Beneficial?

Determining whether a trust is appropriate to include in your estate plan can be a difficult decision to make. Trusts are especially problematic when considering the best person to administer the trust. The chosen trustee has a number of responsibilities, including record maintenance, making prudent investment decisions, and filing tax returns. It is also important that the trustee hire a CPA to ensure the trust abides by IRS compliance rules. This can become very expensive. Even with these costs though, a trust can be a fantastic tool for those wanting to: 1) leave money to a spouse while also reserving the trust corpus to heirs, 2) leaving money to a irresponsible beneficiary, 3) maximize estate-tax exemptions, and/or 4) protect assets from creditors.

See Estate Planning, Is a Trust Beneficial?, TrustEstateProbate.com, March 8, 2016.