How to execute a trust
Creating a trust will help protect your assets and provide benefits to both the people who put their assets into it and to you, the beneficiary. You may want to set up your trust to help protect certain assets. Or you may be concerned that some third party is attempting to take advantage of you or your assets in some way.
Whatever the reason, creating trust is one of the most important steps you can take in order to protect your assets.
Assets can be anything from cash in a bank account to a house. When you place an asset in a trust, it is being put into a group of assets that cannot be taken by anyone without your consent. This gives you a chance to make changes to your assets should the need arise without triggering a costly legal process.
Take a full stock of the trust:
There are two ways to dissolve a trust. The first is to file a formal request with the court that issued the trust. This process is called taking control of the property. The other way is when one or more people petition the court to dissolve a trust.
In either case, you’ll need to get documents such as title deeds, mortgage documents, utility bills, parking receipts, bills, debts, tax returns, death certificate, and other records proving that the property belongs to the people named on the deeds instead of an offshore company or another party with whom you’ve miss communicated.
Consult an attorney:
Just as you should have your tax returns prepared, you should have your estate and trust documents prepared as well. These documents establish the terms on which your assets will be distributed following your death.
It is very important that you select an experienced estate planning attorney who will work with you from the start to ensure your wishes are carried out properly.
Settling a trust after death can be as simple as signing documents and handing over assets as required by law. If you have questions about how to do this or your estate, seek the advice of an experienced attorney.
Calculate the value of the assets:
In order to properly structure a trust, it is essential that you calculate and tabulate the value of each asset in the trust at the time of death. In other words, you must establish a method for determining the value of each asset on an ongoing basis.
This value can be either a cash amount, or it can be a percentage of the total value of the assets in the trust. The value of an asset generally increases as it increases in value due to increased demand for that asset.
Before you write the trust, pay off your bills and obligations:
Following the execution of trust after death, it is important to pay payments, invoices, expenses, taxes, and trust assets are critical in overseeing the financial affairs of any estate. Even after death, assets may still be payable even if a power of attorney is given to a successor trustee to manage assets for you.
To avoid unnecessary complications during administration, you should ensure that any bills that are payable at your hands are also paid before granting administration ownership of any money held in trust for your use or gain.