Trust Lawyer for residents of Rockland County and surrounding communities

Al Kaiser

Al Kaiser discussing Trusts options with client in his Rockland County Office

Albert J. Kaiser has been establishing trusts for his Rockland County and NYS clients for over 30 years.  The focus of his practice is elder law, trusts, and estates.  He has the knowledge of the law and expertise to analyze your particular needs and develop a trust agreement that best fulfills them. 

What is a trust?

A trust is an agreement between the creator (the person whose assets will be subject to the agreement) an a trustee or trustees who are responsible to administer the assets of the trust according to the provisions of the trust.  A trust is generally a legal entity separate apart from the creator or trustee.

A trust as a tool often used to protect your assets.   Once you put your assets in the trust, depending upon the type of trust you develop, they may have  certain protections from estate tax, probate, lawsuits, bankruptcy, legal judgments, divorce and more.  A trust can protect your assets against the costs of long-term care in a nursing home. They can be used to delay distributions to those who will be inheriting your assets and to stipulate and define when and how your beneficiaries will receive your assets. This is especially important when there are minor children or young adults.  Trusts are often developed to provide for a child with special needs after the parent pass.  Trust are also utilized to avoid probate, when circumstances require that probate be avoided.

Trusts can be part of a will (testamentary trust), in which case they do not take effect until the client dies, and the will is admitted to probate.   Or they can be created as a separate document and can take effect immediately (inter vivos trust).  An inter vivos trust can be revocable or irrevocable.

Revocable trust

Revocable trusts are used as will substitutes and used to avoid probate.  They give he creator of the trust the right to revoke the trust and reclaim the assets held by the trust at any time.  Because the trust is revocable, it is disregarded for all tax and liability purposes, as long as the creator (the person creating the trust and the person with the right to revoke) is alive.  Revocable trust cannot be used to save taxes or for Medicaid purposes.  When the grantor dies, the assets in the trust pass to those provided for in the trust.  If everything the person owns is in the trust when he/she dies, you do not need to probate the will.  For most people, there is no need for a revocable trust, but in some instances they are necessary, such as when the indentity or location of the creator’s heirs are unknown or where a will contest is anticipated.

Irrevocable trusts

Irrevocable trusts can be testamentary or inter vivos and are used for the following purposes:

  1. Estate tax planning. Examples include charitable lead trusts and charitable remainder trust and  Qualified Personal  Residence trusts.  Maybe the most popular trust used the estate tax planning is the insurance trust where the trust is designed to hold insurance policies on the life of the grantor. When the grantor dies, the proceeds are not part of the decedent’s taxable estate, so the taxes are paid with before-tax dollars.  Life insurance trust is designed to fund, rather than avoid the tax.
  2. Long term care planning. This trust is designed so that the grantor is not treated as owing the assets of the trust for Medicaid purposes.  Assets can be transferred to the trust to take advantage of the five-year look-back provisions of the Medicaid laws.  The assets are thereafter free from the claims of the nursing home and do not count against the client for Medicaid purposes.  A similar trust is often used when the client is ill and in need of a nursing to minimize the costs of care and protect the client’s assets.
  3. Probate avoidance. (see revocable trust discussion above)
  4. Trust for minors. This trust is designed to  hold and protect the assets until the minor is mature enough to handle his.her finances properly.
  5. Disabled beneficiaries. Special Needs Trusts are used to create a luxury fund for disabled beneficiaries.  The trust assets can be used to pay for the beneficiary’s needs that are not being otherwise satisfied by Medicaid, SSI, etc.
  6. Surviving spouse. Credit shelter trusts are used in wills where the assets are held in trust for the benefit of the surviving spouse for estate tax purposes.
  7. Second marriages. Sometimes assets will be left in a trust for the benefit of the new spouse for his/her life, with the remainder to go the decedent’s children from their first marriage.
If you desire to develop a trust and resided in Rockland County or NYS – Contact Albert J Kaiser

If you reside in Rockland County or somewhere else in New York state and you would like to set a no-obligation consultation with Albert J Kaiser, please call his office at 845-634-3700.