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Home » Estate Planning Articles » Why Your Trust Shouldn’t be Short and Sweet

Why Your Trust Shouldn’t be Short and Sweet

June 29, 2012 by John Potter

Compliments of Our Law Firm,
By: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

You’ve just returned from your estate planning attorney’s office with a draft of your new Trust. As you read through the document, the first thing you notice is how long it is. You’re not rich or famous. Does it really take pages and pages of legal jargon to accomplish your intentions for your estate? You’ve seen do-it-yourself Trust kits online, and they look like they’re only a few pages long.

A short and sweet Trust might be easier to read through, but it is likely not an adequate foundation for a solid estate plan. One purpose of a Trust is to anticipate issues that might arise after your disability or death; another is to provide instructions for what should be done with your assets in different situations. A few pages of simple instructions just are not sufficient to address all – or even most – of the potential situations that might arise.

Empowering Your Trustee

Much of your Trust is devoted to defining the powers and duties of your Trustee, the person in charge of managing your Trust assets. Your Trustee may be faced with any number of situations to deal with, and a well-planned Trust will empower him or her to manage the Trust in a way that best suits the Trust beneficiaries while complying with your wishes.

When your Trust does not specifically empower your Trustee to take certain actions on behalf of the beneficiaries, your Trustee’s hands can be tied. For example, do you want your Trustee to be able to mortgage your home to pay for your children’s education or for medical expenses? If your Trust does not explicitly authorize your Trustee to do this, the bank might be concerned that your Trustee is not permitted to sign the mortgage documents.

Identifying Your Beneficiaries

Another portion of your Trust identifies your beneficiaries. At first blush, it seems like this should be the shortest part of the document. After all, you just need to list a few names, right?

Not necessarily. Imagine you want to make Amanda, Ben, and Charlie your Trust beneficiaries. If your Trust document simply names these beneficiaries and goes no further, a spectrum of potential problems arises. What if Amanda dies before you, and she leaves behind children? Should her children inherit her share of the Trust assets, or should Ben and Charlie divide the Trust assets evenly? If you want Amanda’s children to inherit her share of the assets, in what proportion? What if Amanda has adopted children or step-children – should they be treated the same as her biological children?

This is just a taste of the many issues addressed by a good Trust. A well-drafted Trust document anticipates as many potential questions and problems as possible, and resolves them according to your wishes. This simply can’t be done in a handful of pages.

An experienced estate planning attorney will delve into your financial and personal situation, help you clarify your hopes, wishes, and intentions for your loved ones, and then draft a detailed Trust designed to bring your plans to life.

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Overall The Potter Firm was very professional. They took what could of been a very complicated process and were able to break it down so it was a lot easier to understand. We are confident we now have made the right decisions in our estate planning. Good firm to work with.

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John Potter has been a real pleasure to work with. He is very knowledgeable and explains things in a very simplistic manner so the average person can understand how/why the laws are written. He is very attentive and asks questions in such a way that not only helps him understand your goals, but also helps you think about what type of goals and expectations you should be considering. Exemplary client service.

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My husband and I selected Ms. Potter to assist with our small business. She responsive and attentive every time I have a question or need assistance, and is extremely knowledgeable and able to answer any legal question I have had. I know I can count on Ms. Potter for all of my business legal needs and I would highly recommend her to anyone needing legal assistance with such.

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