Are Trusts Only For Wealthy People?
By Barry Zimmer on June 27th, 2017 in Wills & Trusts
Cincinnati trust lawyers provide assistance to individuals and to families in making their plans for how best to protect their assets and for how best to provide an inheritance. For many people, trusts are one of the most powerful estate planning and asset protection tools available. Unfortunately, there are lots of people who could benefit from the use of a trust but who do not make effective use of this legal tool because they have misconceptions about what trusts do or who they are used by.
Zimmer Law Firm can help you to determine whether or not you could make effective use of a trust to accomplish your goals for keeping your wealth safe and providing for your family. Trusts are not only for older people and they are not only for people who are very wealthy. Our Cincinnati trust lawyers have helped individuals and families in all income brackets and all walks of life to make trusts. Give us a call to find out from our firm if a trust is the right tool for you to use and to get help with the trust creation process.
Are Trusts Only for the Wealthy?
Many people associate creating a trust with something that wealthy people do, because most people are familiar with the idea of trusts based on movies and media reports of “trust-fund” kids with big inheritances..
While you can definitely use a trust to protect and provide for your children, this is not the only thing that a trust is useful for accomplishing. A trust can help you to keep your wealth safe if you need nursing home care, which you might have to pay for out-of-pocket if you have too many assets to qualify for Medicaid at the time when you need care. Medicare won’t pay for a nursing home in most situations, so if you haven’t protected your wealth and you have too many assets to get Medicaid coverage, you could be forced to spend your life savings on care.
A trust can allow you to leave money to a child with a disability while protecting the child’s access to means-tested benefits like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income, or can make it possible for you to protect assets from your creditors or from the creditors of heirs or beneficiaries.
Trusts can be used to help avoid estate tax, to transfer an inheritance more quickly after death, to provide protection for your assets in case of incapacity, and to do much more. While not every trust will accomplish all of these goals, Zimmer Law Firm can help you to select the right kind of trust that will give you the control and the protection you need. This is important for anyone with a family or assets that they care about and want to protect – even if you aren’t very wealthy.
When Should You Talk to Cincinnati Trust Lawyers?
Cincinnati trust lawyers at Zimmer Law Firm can assist you with determining if trust creation is the right option for you. Our firm can work closely with you to assess possible sources of risk to your assets during your lifetime and after your death. We can also help you to determine if there are any special circumstances with your heirs or beneficiaries, such as having a disabled loved one.
Based on an assessment of risks and an assessment of the needs of your loved ones, we’ll advise you on whether you should create a trust. If you do decide that trust creation is the right choice, we can help with the formalities of making your trust. In some cases, like if you are trying to ensure that you can make Medicaid pay for nursing home care without you having to spend all of your money on a care facility first, you’ll need to ensure you create a specific type of trust as early as possible before the care is needed.
You don’t want to wait to put a plan for protecting your assets in place that makes effective use of trusts and other legal tools. Since you never know when you may need care or when you might unexpectedly pass away, you should talk with a trust lawyer as soon as possible if you don’t already have a trust.
Getting Help from Cincinnati Trust Lawyers
Zimmer Law Firm not only provides assistance with trust creation but we also help you to make use of other types of legal tools that can provide protection for you, your money and property, and your loved ones. To learn more about all of the different services our firm can provide to help you, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 513.721.1513 today for help.