You Lose Control Over Your Assets With An Irrevocable Trust

You can use an irrevocable trust to protect your assets from probate, as well as any creditors who may want a piece of your estate.

Even though an irrevocable trust offers many benefits, there is one thing you must keep in mind: the assets you put into an irrevocable trust are no longer yours and you cannot revoke the trust to get these assets back.

Going over what this means for you, and speaking with a Florida estate planning lawyer at the Millhorn Elder Law Planning Group will help you achieve your estate planning wishes.

What Is An Irrevocable Trust? 

An irrevocable trust is a trust that cannot be revoked. This means that, when you put assets into the trust, you cannot take out these assets. Nor can you modify or revoke the trust.

You can use an irrevocable trust to protect your assets from creditors. And, you can also use an irrevocable trust to bypass the probate process.

Just as an example, if you owe money to several organizations, they cannot get this money from the assets that comprise your estate. This is because those assets are no longer yours; they belong to the trust.

Every asset you put into an irrevocable trust no longer belongs to you. Your trustee has the power to use the assets within your irrevocable trust. And, they may make choices that you disagree with.

You can force the trustee out of their role. But, this is not an easy thing to do and, even though you developed the trust, you may not have the ability to make any significant changes to your irrevocable trust. 

What Should You Do? 

An irrevocable trust offers many benefits. None of these benefits should be discounted. But, if you are uncomfortable with the idea of your trustee controlling your assets, you may want to pursue other options.

You can develop a will and, then, stick to just that will. This does make things easy, but it comes with one major downside: the assets in your will must go through probate, which takes around nine months.

If the assets named in your will are forced to go through probate, your beneficiaries will be unable to receive them for quite some time.

The above is on top of the costs associated with probate. These probate costs can lead to your beneficiaries receiving less money, and fewer assets, than you would like to give them.

To protect your assets, you can develop a revocable trust. A revocable trust can be revoked and modified at any time. And, if set up properly, will avoid the probate process. 

Speak With A Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Today 

If you would like to develop an estate plan that satisfies your wishes, you must work with someone who has the proper expertise.

Speak with a Florida estate planning lawyer today and we will help you develop the estate plan that is right for your needs. 

Sources: 

law.cornell.edu/wex/trust

law.cornell.edu/wex/irrevocable_trust