If you are pondering your estate-planning options, one possibility you may be considering is an incentive trust. These trusts work to motivate your beneficiaries to strive toward certain pre-set goals as conditions for receiving disbursements from the trust. Let’s...
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Trusts
Estate planning when your family members are bad with money
Every family has one: a loved one who just isn’t good with their money. Perhaps, this loved one buys new cars every three years, even though they can’t afford them. Or they have thousands in credit card debt because they can’t stop buying designer clothes. Or your...
Why use a trust when estate planning?
If you are new to estate planning, you may have heard people talk about trusts but be unsure of what one is. You might even think only people with sizeable wealth need them. The truth is, a trust can be a useful option for anyone, regardless of the size of their...
Can you challenge a trust in Michigan?
When planning an estate, choosing to create a trust can be a sure way of protecting assets. Planners may choose to draft revocable or irrevocable trusts. In Michigan, there are circumstances that dictate whether a person may challenge a trust. If you are wondering...
Choose the right trusts for your estate plan
One of the functions of your estate plan is to help provide for your loved ones as much as possible after your death. There are several elements to an estate plan that can do this. Two primary ones include your will and any trusts. When the estate plan goes through...
Trusts: Revocable and irrevocable vary considerably
Many people opt to use trusts as part of their estate plan. When you do this, you have to determine what type of trusts you are going to establish. There are many to choose from, but each one will be classified as either a revocable or irrevocable trust. Understanding...
What to know about grantor trusts
Michigan residents and others who are looking to protect their assets may benefit from creating a trust. Assets inside of a trust are generally off-limits to creditors, and beneficiaries may be limited in how they use money or other items distributed from it. A...
How 529 plans can fit into an estate plan
Making gifts to an irrevocable trust may be an effective way for an individual to reduce the size of his or her taxable estate. However, it also means giving up control of how assets are used, and it also means giving up the ability to change who benefits from those...
Having a will may not be enough
Michigan families that have an estate plan will almost always have a will in place. However, they often want to know whether they need a trust if they already have a will. In many cases, the answer to this question is yes.When one passes away with a will, the estate...
How assets in a trust are taxed
Income that is generated by a trust can either be kept in the trust or distributed to beneficiaries. In some cases, a Michigan trustee will have the ability to make distributions as he or she sees fit. However, it is also possible that the trust itself will limit the...