The Trusts Lawyer You’ve Been Looking for in Salt Lake City!

Setting up trusts is the best way to protect the assets you worked to build throughout your life. Additionally, they are a great way to shelter you or your family members from paying unnecessary taxes and legal expenses. 

Worried you have not acquired enough assets to establish a trust, but still want what you have protected? We have great news for you, the elements that make having a trust desirable to the ultra wealthy, also serve the middle-class just as well.

While they may seem daunting and out of reach, trusts simply serve as a means to ensure your funds are used for what you wish after you pass away. Provided they do not conflict with laws or pubic policy as stated in this summary from the Utah Courts.

Don’t let what you’ve heard about trust and estate planning scare you off from protecting what you have earned. We look forward to hearing from you and helping guide you through your estate planning needs. Schedule your free 30 minute consultation today!

Common Types of Trusts 

More people than ever are choosing to incorporate trusts into their estate plans. You can create a trust while you are alive called an irrevocable or living trust. You can also create a revocable trust that is established as a substitute for your will. These types of trusts outline how your assets will be distributed when you die. There are many different types of trusts, but some of the most popular types include revocable living trusts, irrevocable trusts, and special needs trusts. 

Our Utah Trust Services

At Read Law, our estate planning lawyers are dedicated to protecting our clients’ assets by creating the necessary trusts. We possess the experience and skills to understand complex trust issues and advocate for our clients’ best interests. Our trust lawyers have significant experience litigating trust matters on behalf of large and small trust beneficiaries, and we have successfully defended many trust fiduciaries. We represented trust beneficiaries in various stress-related actions, including the following:

• Beneficiary claims
• Trust contests
• Accounting of trust finances
• Failure of a trustee to provide trust documents, inventory, and/or accounting promptly
• Allegations of duress, fraud, undue influence, coercion, lack of capacity, proper trust formation, and diverting from the trustor’s intent
• Trust mismanagement and misappropriation
• Breach of fiduciary duties 

Trust Administration Services

The experienced estate planning lawyers at Read Law also represent trustees, helping them with the following trust administration tasks:

• Administering the trust, according to its terms
• Operating an appropriate inventory or accounting
• Providing the required documents and information to the beneficiaries
• Appropriately distributing the trust’s assets, and 
• Defending the trust assets against claims from creditors or beneficiaries 

Trust Litigation Lawyers 

Trust litigation occurs when a person files a lawsuit concerning the administration of a trust in a Utah district court. A fiduciary, beneficiary, or another interested party can file a lawsuit regarding an irrevocable or revocable trust. Trust litigation is similar to other types of civil litigation, but there are key differences that need to be observed. The lawyers at Read Law have successfully represented clients in many different trust litigation cases. We have an in-depth knowledge of Utah trust law and significant courtroom experience. If you are involved in a trust litigation case, contact us today to learn how we can help advocate for you.

What is a Revocable Living Trust?

Revocable trusts are the most commonly used types of trusts in Utah. You can create a revocable trust during your lifetime and, when necessary, you can change or revoke the trust while you’re still alive. After you create the trust, you will need to transfer property into the trust. As the creator of the trust, you will still have the ability to remove or add a property to the trust during your lifetime. Revocable trusts are appealing because they allow the person who creates the trust to retain control over their assets. 

Reasons to Create a Revocable Living Trust in Utah

One of the key benefits of creating a revocable living trust is that all of the property you transfer into the trust will not be subject to the probate process. Instead, any assets you transferred to the trust will be subject to the terms in your trust agreement. When you create your trust agreement, you will have significant control over who will receive your assets after you pass away and how they will receive them. You can appoint yourself as a trustee during your lifetime to manage the trust. When you pass away, the successor trustee that you appoint will take over the management of your trust to benefit your beneficiaries.

What is an Irrevocable Trust?

An irrevocable trust cannot be altered or revoked once created. Additionally, you will not be able to transfer any property out of the trust that you’ve already placed into the trust unless the terms of the trust allow the transfer. The main downside of creating an irrevocable trust is that you will not be able to revoke it or change it, and you will not have as much control over the trust. However, irrevocable trusts help protect assets from certain types of creditors. Irrevocable trusts are also useful to lower your income and asset levels so you can qualify for Medicaid benefits.

Charitable Trusts

Would you like to donate money or property to a charity of your choice after you pass away? If so, creating a charitable trust could help you achieve your goals. People who would like to give a portion of their estate to charity will benefit from creating a charitable trust. You will enjoy reduced taxes and protection from creditors while still providing yourself with Benefits during your lifetime. You can withdraw income from your charitable trust until your death. 

Upon your death, the charity or charities of your choice will become the beneficiary of the trust assets. In some charitable trusts, the assets remaining in the trust will automatically transfer to the charity upon the creator’s death. With other charitable trusts, the trust will continue in perpetuity, and the charity will take monthly or yearly withdrawals from the assets in the trust.

Utah Special Needs Trusts Lawyer

Do you have a child or family member with special needs? Are you concerned about how they will provide for themselves after you are gone? If so, our experienced estate planning lawyers can help you create a special needs trust. According to Utah laws, setting up your special needs trust is crucial if you would like to protect your loved one with special needs. Social Security and Medicaid have rules regarding how much income your loved one with special needs will be able to continue receiving financial support from the trust without becoming disqualified from receiving necessary public benefits such as health care.