Find Best Trust Attorneys & Lawyers Near You

A trust attorney is a lawyer specializing primarily in various forms of trust, but also in other instruments of estate planning. First, a trust lawyer listens to your situation and explains various kinds of trusts and how they can help you. For example, a revocable trust is more flexible and can be amended or revoked. An irrevocable trust, however, may be more useful in avoiding taxes. A family trust may be called for when you want to restrict the beneficiaries to family members only. In a living trust, you can be the trustee and manage your assets during your lifetime. Living trust lawyers can help with this. If you prefer to have the assets transferred upon your death, you would need a testamentary trust. Your trust attorney will write a plan for the protection and eventual distribution of your assets based on your wishes. Then they will create all needed documents. Trust attorneys, sometimes called trust fund lawyers, will set up the trust administration and assist the person whom you appoint as trustee. They can even serve as the trustee if you wish. In the event that an heir challenges the trust, your attorney should be able to handle any trust litigation needs.

When a family includes someone who is either mentally or physically disabled, or who is chronically ill, they may choose to create a special needs trust for that person. People like this often qualify for public assistance or disability payments of some kind. Those contributions are usually conditioned on the number of funds or assets that are otherwise available to the disabled person. When funds or other assets are transferred to a trust, they are owned by the trust, not the beneficiary of the trust. Because of that, these assets don’t reduce the benefits that are provided to the individual. The special needs trust pays for needs and services that are not covered by other funding sources. These trusts are often referred to as a supplemental trust.

Attorneys either charge by the hour or with a flat fee for the services they provide. The top-rated attorneys usually charge by the hour. Normally, they will charge a smaller hourly rate for the portion of work done by members of their staff. Top attorneys can charge from $200 to $350 an hour. The area you are in will have an impact on those rates with large metropolitan areas showing higher hourly rates for the best trust attorneys. When an hourly rate is charged, the size and complexity of your financial situation will dictate the total cost of the work. The more time that is required to complete the project, the higher your total bill will be. For smaller situations that require less work, a flat fee may be arranged. These can run from $1,000 to $2,000. Some trust attorneys will also provide an initial consultation for no charge.

The two areas that are critical and sometimes hard to understand are the use of revocable versus irrevocable trusts, and whether you need the trust to be active during your life (living trust) or only after your lifetime (testamentary trust). Ask the attorney to explain these different trusts to you in detail and how they are used. You should also keep in mind the tax ramifications of your choices. Always ask how the type of trust they recommend will impact your tax situation. After meeting with the attorney, you may want to meet with your CPA or tax preparer to go over their suggestions. Make a list of all your assets before meeting with a trust attorney. They may have a form for you to fill out with this information.

Your estate is everything that you own. A trust is a legal arrangement where someone manages the assets entrusted to them. Everyone who needs a trust has an estate, but not everyone who has an estate needs a trust. The terms ‘trust lawyer’ and ‘estate lawyer’ are often used interchangeably. Attorneys who are considered estate lawyers and who help with estate planning certainly know what trusts are and how they can be used. However, some attorneys are more experienced in writing trust documents that meet specific needs. If you believe that you need a trust created for you or your family, do your research and look for an attorney or firm that has a lot of experience creating trusts.

A trust can be an extremely valuable tool in managing your estate and protecting your family. It is a major restructuring of your affairs and should be done by an attorney that you trust completely. If you currently have a real estate attorney, you can ask them for a referral to a good trust attorney. When you do this, you should keep in mind that attorneys are allowed to accept referral fees and this could affect their recommendation. You should still carefully research anyone who is recommended to you. If you are a member of a real estate club, ask around to see if other investors have had good results from their trust attorney. Many investors may not want to discuss their private affairs this way and you may not get a good sampling of attorneys. Whether or not you are comfortable starting from scratch with an online search is up to you. Remember, the results provided by an online search engine are based on advertising criteria and not necessarily reliability. Always do your own research as completely as possible. The staff at HouseCashin has spent unlimited time researching and reviewing trust attorneys and law firms. The professionals were scrutinized for their experience and reliability. Our list of top-rated trust attorneys in your area is made up of experienced experts. When you are preparing for your family’s future, and protecting the results of your hard work, use the HouseCashin directory to find the best local trust attorneys to choose from.