Turn to an Experienced Wills and Trusts Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ
You can never begin your estate planning too early to ensure that your family members are taken care of after you pass away. You never know when you could be in an accident that leads to your incapacitation or death, making early estate planning essential.
Contact our firm at the Kadish Associates Law Group to schedule a consultation with a wills and trusts lawyer in Phoenix, AZ. We have over 50 years of combined attorney experience in wills, trusts, estate planning, business, and real estate law.
Estate Planning with a Will vs. a Trust
Wills and trusts both allow you to name certain family members, charities, or organizations as beneficiaries to receive property and assets after your passing or incapacitation. However, these documents work differently and follow different processes for estate administration after you pass away:
- A willis a document that outlines who gets what from your property and assets. You can also nominate a guardian for minor children in a will, name powers of attorney to manage your finances and healthcare decisions in the event of your incapacitation, and create advance healthcare directives in a living will to manage which procedures you would choose for yourself in case of incapacitation.
- A trustis an asset management structure where you, the grantor, create and fund the trust. If creating a revocable living trust, you would name yourself as the trustee and name a successor trustee to administer the trust upon your death or incapacitation. The trustee is responsible for managing the trust assets and disbursing the assets to the beneficiaries of the trust.
You must transfer assets into the trust, meaning that you must create a new deed and title under the name of the trust to transfer ownership. An experienced wills and trusts lawyer in Phoenix from Kadish Associates Law Group can explain more about wills and trusts.
Why Establish a Trust?
The primary benefit of a trust over a will is that trusts avoid probate. Probate is the process by which the state evaluates an estate and uses the assets to pay final expenses, bills, taxes, and debts the decedent leaves behind. While the probate court will try to avoid any assets named in the will, some family members may not receive their full inheritance after probate.
Wills must go through probate and become part of the public court records. This means that your beneficiaries could learn what each receives, and your creditors might pursue assets after probate ends.
The trustee is the only person who knows the terms of the trust agreement. A trust never enters the public record. Additionally, those assets belong to the trust rather than the decedent, protecting them from creditors.
If you choose to create a trust and transfer assets into a trust, our experienced trust attorneys at Kadish Associates Law Group can help you create a pour-over will to add any assets purchased later to the trust when you pass away.
Contact Kadish Associates Law Group: Your Experienced Wills and Trusts Lawyer in Phoenix, AZ
When you need a wills and trusts lawyer in Phoenix, AZ, turn to our experienced team at Kadish Associates Law Group. Call us at 480-967-2688 or contact us online to schedule a consultation for estate planning to protect your property and assets.