Creating a revocable living trust is a crucial step in estate planning. The trust allows you to protect your assets from probate after your death, while still allowing you to access and manage them during your lifetime. However, understanding what happens to a revocable trust...
If you have grandchildren, you can use a generation-skipping trust to pass some of your assets directly to them. This way, you can leave an inheritance for your grandchildren without burdening their parents’ estates. And not only do generation-skipping trusts avoid probate, they also keep...
Fulfilling the duties of a trustee can feel overwhelming at times. There are many rules to follow and many tasks to carry out if you want to ensure the trust is administered successfully. It can often be difficult to know exactly where to start. We...
At Phelps LaClair, we are often asked how long it takes for a trust to be distributed. In our experience as a second generation law firm, we know that the general rule is to have the trust distributed within a reasonable time. But what does...
Estate planning is a strategic step to setting your finances and assets in order prior to incapacitation or death. Life has many unexpected turns along the way, and when we plan for them in advance, it saves time, money, and unnecessary headaches. The estate planning...
With a well-designed estate plan, you can continue to provide for your children after you are gone. However, leaving an inheritance to a minor child is different than leaving an inheritance to an adult. At Phelps Law, we want to help you understand how to...
Upon the arrival of a sweet little bundle of joy, a grandparent’s thoughts often turn to the financial stability of their loved one’s future. Helping provide for your grandchildren by leaving them the assets you’ve accumulated is a common practice. However, the best way to...
Besides the peace of mind it offers, one of the main advantages of a revocable living trust is the ease of making changes according to your wishes. Amending a revocable trust is a fairly simple process and help from your estate planner will make it...
Are you curious about a charitable remainder trust (CRT) distribution or how it relates to estate planning? Learning more about estate planning vehicles like irrevocable trusts and charitable remainder trusts will help you select the right ones for your situation. We’ll cover those topics here and...
Many people ask us here at Phelps LaClair about the difference between wills and trusts. To most, the revocable living trust looks a lot like a will. They wonder if a trust can replace a will, and whether they need to create a will if...