There are always individuals offering advice on the "best" way to go about estate planning in Washington State. While most methods can be used effectively to create a stable estate for your family the "best" method often depends on the family in question. One well known, popular, way to protect an inheritance for a minor child or elderly family member is to establish a trust.
Special Needs Trust
Many families have members that require special care, or are elderly, and are entitled to government benefits. These benefits, often in the form of monthly income, can be revoked if the recipient suddenly receives a large amount of money. Instead of leaving a family member receiving these benefits a large lump sum of money a trust can be established instead. There are many attorneys that are experienced with estate law that can set up a trust for your loved one that will either not jeopardize their government benefits or that can be quickly be expired if the recipient feels that their benefits are going to be revoked.
Qualified Terminable Property Trust
There are some individuals who do not want anyone that is not related by blood to inherit part of their estate. This means that they do not want future step children or spouses to inherit the property left to a close family member when the family passes away. With these trusts you will be able to specify that property will only be redistributed to biological children or blood relatives after the original beneficiary passes away. These trusts are extremely useful during estate planning in Washington State when a second spouse with their own children will be a beneficiary.
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust
With the bulk of many estates consisting of real estate property, investment property, vehicles, and even businesses that can not be quickly realized into cash life insurance trusts are a useful choice. These trusts are created to allow life insurance policies to be used to pay any taxes or fees associated with an estate. This will help heirs keep any property that might otherwise have gone into probate in order to pay estate taxes or other fees associated with the inheritance.
These trusts are extremely popular with business owners who want their children or heirs to inherit their business. Setting up an irrevocable life insurance trust will help your heirs avoid being forced to sell the business to clear debts that might be outstanding against an estate.
