If you are looking for an attorney to represent you in a lawsuit, you should consider hiring trust attorneys. What exactly are they? In a nutshell, a trust attorney is dedicated to defending what clients value the most. Trusts come in a number of forms and they can either be complex or simple. In some cases, the trust can serve to act as a protection from lawsuits, and in other cases it can act more as an agreement. If you are considering hiring a trust attorney, are You Thinking About Trust Attorneys?
The types of lawsuits handled by trust attorneys include personal injury lawsuits, insurance claims, and corporate frauds.
Personal injury law is usually a mess, thanks in part to insurance companies’ desire to cut their losses and collect premiums rather than admit to making mistakes and paying out. Because of this, trust attorneys can make a personal injury law a much fairer game for everyone. In short, if you want your legal rights restored, trust attorneys can help.
Some of the ways this can occur is if a spouse has a financial relationship with a deceased person, or that person has died intestate (without a will).
In these instances, if the testator had a revocable living trust in place, it means creditors can always go after the assets. However, it also means that you give up full rights and access to the estate.
Another way to look at this is from the opposite perspective. Let’s say there was no trust or living trust involved.
If the testator had died intestate, the assets would pass to his/her surviving spouse. This could mean the spouse then becomes the decedent’s beneficiary and can start playing “dirty pool” among the others who had judgments against the estate. Even though the person who dies intestate might still have outstanding judgments against the decedent (some of which are not in the testator’s favor), they would only be taxed on the minor portion of the judgments. What this means is that the average judgment could be wiped out in a very short period of time, leaving the decedent with virtually nothing.
There is a third possibility: The decedent’s living trust does not provide access to their estate at all. In this instance, creditors could simply go after the beneficiaries of the decedent’s trust, through the probate process.
If the trust itself is not in any type of asset protection situation, the creditors may simply file a lawsuit against the trust itself, if it is not protected by a living trust. However, if the trust provides access to the estate, then the creditors’ lawsuit could be delayed until after the trust has been dissolved.
The main difference between a revocable trust versus an irrevocable trust is the type of asset protection provided.
While an irrevocable trust is not under any type of asset protection or legal strategy, a revocable trust is often utilized for the avoidance of probate and the transfer of the estate. If one’s home is in danger of foreclosure, and no other solution exists, a revocable trust could easily be considered as the best solution.
It is important to remember, when discussing estate planning with an attorney, that a will is just that, a will.
Any express instructions contained within the document are only those which the individual had prior to death. They do not include instructions that are implied by the laws of intestacy or even state law. If you truly want to take control of your finances after you pass away, you are advised to discuss the best options for protecting your estate from probate and the transfer of assets that you may have.
The bottom line is, there are many reasons to use a trust, even if you choose to use a living trust instead.
If probate is looming over your head and you need some sort of safeguard to protect your assets, then revocable trusts are an option that should be seriously considered. They are not only simple, but they also give the control of your assets directly over to an appointed Trustee, who is not only protected from probate, but they are protected from creditors as well. If you decide to use a living trust, consult an attorney that understands the ins and outs of revocable trusts to help you through the process.
