Why "Trusts"?

feb · 12-29-2006, 02:16 PM

Over time I've noticed that a fair amount of lake property is held in Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts, or something like that. Why is that? Is it a simpler way to hand it down from generation to generation or some way to lessen the burden of owning it? Just good old estate planning?

phoenix · 12-29-2006, 03:57 PM

no real advantage from a current expense point of view( towns could care less who owns they will tax the same anyway) generally it is for estate planning both for estate tax and probate

upthesaukee · 12-29-2006, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feb

Over time I've noticed that a fair amount of lake property is held in Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts, or something like that. Why is that? Is it a simpler way to hand it down from generation to generation or some way to lessen the burden of owning it? Just good old estate planning?

My wife and I are no longer people, we are a trust and everything we own is in the name of a trust. In case we buy something and it could be titled in the name of a trust, but we didn't do it, there is what is called a "pour-over will" built into the trust that will take that property and leave it to the trust. Purely an estate planning thing.

When my Mom died, we had just about everything in both our names (dad had died in the 80's). Mom bought a new car, and forgot to put it in my name also. Went to do the probate thing, and for a little over a $100 in blue book value on the car, we were going to have to do the long probate thing. However, we waited a week or so and the new book came out and the value was below the threshold (can't remember what it was...something like $15k.).

With a trust, the trustees just continue it along, no probate cost, full use of the property(s), but a lot more expense to set up than a will. For us, we felt it was worth it.

Basin · 01-10-2007, 08:24 PM

it is a simple way to protect the general public from knowing who you are or where your money is coming from.
It is hard to put a price on privacy.

SAMIAM · 01-11-2007, 10:30 AM

Upthesaukee....you did a nice job of explaining the benefits of a trust.My lawyer took 3/4 of an hour doing the same thing and I left scratching my head.How about a lesson on LLC's.......you are saving us a ton of money.

SIKSUKR · 01-12-2007, 02:00 PM

Up is right on the money.I just set up a living trust.The point is to keep your assets from getting tied up in probate court.I can easily make changes to the trust if I feel I want to.It is a little pricey but is well worth it if you have decent size assets you wish to pass along.Definately check it out with an estate planning lawyer.

12-29-2006, 02:16 PM	#1
feb Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Meredith (Winnisquam) & Nashua, NH Posts: 209 Thanks: 25 Thanked 20 Times in 17 Posts	Why "Trusts"? Over time I've noticed that a fair amount of lake property is held in Trusts, Irrevocable Trusts, or something like that. Why is that? Is it a simpler way to hand it down from generation to generation or some way to lessen the burden of owning it? Just good old estate planning?

12-29-2006, 03:57 PM	#2
phoenix Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: phoenix and moultonboro Posts: 1,520 Thanks: 58 Thanked 266 Times in 187 Posts	no real advantage from a current expense point of view( towns could care less who owns they will tax the same anyway) generally it is for estate planning both for estate tax and probate __________________ it's tough to make predictions specially about the future

01-10-2007, 08:24 PM	#4
Basin Junior Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Also it is a simple way to protect the general public from knowing who you are or where your money is coming from. It is hard to put a price on privacy.

01-12-2007, 02:00 PM	#6
SIKSUKR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,075 Thanks: 215 Thanked 903 Times in 509 Posts	Up is right on the money.I just set up a living trust.The point is to keep your assets from getting tied up in probate court.I can easily make changes to the trust if I feel I want to.It is a little pricey but is well worth it if you have decent size assets you wish to pass along.Definately check it out with an estate planning lawyer. __________________ SIKSUKR

01-11-2007, 10:30 AM	#5
SAMIAM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 2,836 Thanks: 326 Thanked 1,626 Times in 562 Posts	Upthesaukee....you did a nice job of explaining the benefits of a trust.My lawyer took 3/4 of an hour doing the same thing and I left scratching my head.How about a lesson on LLC's.......you are saving us a ton of money.