Are you interested in working with a black lawyer to help you secure your legacy and the future of your family? Attorney Christy K. Brown is here for you. She stands out as one of the top African American trusts attorneys in Houston, TX providing legal services that work with you and your family to create a plan that helps you to leave your assets behind in a way that helps your family to avoid the probate process once you have passed away.
Different Types of Trusts
You can tailor a trust to your needs. As such, there are a variety of different types of trusts to choose from, but all trusts fall under two main categories.
1. Revocable trusts
Revocable trusts, also referred to as living trusts, are created during the grantor’s lifetime and are generally used for:
- Planning for incapacitation. If you’re diagnosed with a debilitating condition, you can get things in order before you’re unable to do so. When that day comes, the successor trustee takes over managing the trust assets for you.
- Avoiding probate. Assets in a revocable trust can bypass probate — the time-consuming process of settling an estate. Assets that pass through probate become public record, so bypassing probate can be beneficial if you’d prefer to keep the details of the trust private.
In a revocable trust, you (the grantor) can change the beneficiaries and assets as long as you’re alive and physically and mentally able to do so. You can even name yourself as the trustee and name a co-trustee or successor trustee. However, revocable trusts do not include any tax benefits or protection from creditors. For that, you may want to consider an irrevocable trust.
2. Irrevocable trusts
Irrevocable trusts are often used to minimize estate taxes for beneficiaries. In an irrevocable trust, you can’t change your mind. Once you put assets in the trust and name a beneficiary, it’s permanent. An advantage of irrevocable trusts is that you might be able to reduce your estate taxes because the assets in an irrevocable trust technically aren’t yours anymore. The trust owns them.
These trusts are typically used:
- To receive and hold assets after the grantor dies.
- To hold lifetime gifts for the grantor’s heirs or beneficiaries.
Other types of trusts
Testamentary trust: Created by the terms of your will; unlike other trusts, it’s only funded upon your death.
Grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT): Allows the grantor to direct certain assets into a temporary trust and freeze its value, removing additional appreciation from the estate and giving it to heirs with minimal estate or gift tax liability.
Education trust: Beneficiaries can only use the money for educational expenses.
Spendthrift trust: When beneficiaries can’t make good financial decisions for themselves, the trustee decides how the beneficiary is allowed to use the money.
Charitable trust: An irrevocable trust from which assets go to one or more charities.
Functional-needs trust: For families with children who have functional needs, these trusts set specific rules for how the money will go to the beneficiary.
Qualified personal residence trust: An irrevocable trust in which you transfer a house to your heirs but get to live in it for a specified period first.
Generation-skipping trusts: A trust in which you transfer money to grandchildren or other people who are at least 37.5 years younger than you.
At Brown Law PLLC, our legal team specializes in providing a full range of estate planning services, including setting up a wide range of different trusts. Our goal is to help you maximize the wealth and assets you leave behind to your loved ones, with the least amount of hassle for them as possible.
Don’t wait until it is too late to create a strong plan for the future. We are here to help you consider and weigh your options to leave a legacy that resonates with the life you have lived. If you are ready to take the next step and start planning for your future, reach out to our law firm today.
Black Trust and Estate Planning Attorney
With nearly two decades of experience, Principal Attorney Christy K. Brown is a No-Nonsense, Forward-Thinking, and Result-Oriented probate, estate planning, and business lawyer, and she’s committed to handling each of her clients’ concerns equally, creatively, relentlessly, and in a personal way from the first meeting. Schedule your free 15-minute phone consultation today to learn more about how we can help you through the probate process.
Brown Law PLLC
5850 San Felipe Street,
Suite 500, Houston, TX 77057
(713) 554-4975
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