Family Trust Lawyers On The North Shore – What Is A Family Trust And Is It Necessary To Have One
First of all, let’s make sure everyone has a thorough understanding of exactly what a Family Trust is and then we can move into what the second part of the question. Briefly put, a Family Trust is basically just a trust that gets set up in order to protect a family’s assets, for both current and future members. So far, that sounds fairly basic and simple, right? If it is so simple then why doesn’t every family have one? The following are some thoughts of a trust lawyer. This is not legal advice, and for full advice, you should consult with family trust lawyers on The North Shore.
So let’s dig a little to deeper to see why you would want to through all of the expense and time of getting a trust set up, to begin with, and by being aware of the major reasons to go down that path so that you can determine whether it is something for you or not. Then consult with a North Shore trust lawyer who you can discuss this in more detail.
Reasons why you might want to get a family trust set up:
- Protecting assets against commercial claims
When you transfer funds or property from your name to a family trust, then those funds cannot be touched and are protected under law. While you probably will be responsible for any shortfall in debt, like a property’s remaining mortgage, and while you will need to repay the debt still, now the property has been passed to the trust so it cannot be taken back in exchange for repayment. Family trust lawyers on The North Shore can help.
- Protect your assets against any property claims by relatives
Briefly put, if you pass on your finances or property in your will to a child after the inheritance is received by the child, under law, the spouse can claim a large portion of it. However, if the property or funds have been transferred to a family trust, beneficiaries, who might be family members may have access still, however, the spouses will not necessarily. Since the assets aren’t in your name, but in the family trust name, the trust beneficiaries can keep these assets but, in the event of a divorce, your partner won’t be able to take any of it.
- When you are unable to trust family members to use the funds left to them responsibly.
If in your will you bequeath money you won’t have any control over how the funds are spent. Probably many of us know individuals that spend money as quickly as possible instead of saving it to spend in the future. Instead of the money being in a family trust, the trust rules may allocate part of the assets over time. This way, the individual won’t be able to spend all of it once. They will instead have the investment returns that are generated by the trust or may be allocated in a lump sum at specific stages in their life, or when they reach a certain age.
To make your assets safe, be sure to look for family trust lawyers on The North Shore. McVeagh Fleming.