Trusts

Trust Lawyer Columbus Ohio

Peace of Mind for the Future

Estate planning helps ensure your wishes for the future are carried out in the event of your disability or death. Trusts can be an important part of estate planning, allowing you to pass assets on to your loved ones – often bypassing the time-consuming probate process. When you’re ready to create a trust, contact Taneff Law in Columbus Ohio. Our experienced estate planning lawyers and family law attorneys will help you plan and create a trust so you can enjoy peace of mind for the future.

Peace of Mind for the Future

What is a Trust?

A trust is an agreement between you (the trustor) and a third party (the trustee) that allows the trustee to hold assets until they are passed to a beneficiary. For example, you could put a savings account into a trust and have a trustee hold it until your child turns 18, 21, 25, or 30 or later at which point the trust would be passed on to your child. Putting financial or personal property in a trust can be a great way to ensure those resources are given to beneficiaries in a timely manner following your death and without going through probate. Trusts are created as part of the estate planning process.

Trusts can hold a variety of financial and physical property, such as checking accounts, savings accounts, stocks and bonds, insurance policies, real estate properties, personal belongings like furniture and jewelry, and more. If you own a small business, you can also create a trust to hold the business.

There are several types of trusts you can choose to create. Revocable trusts can be changed or terminated in the future. Irrevocable trusts cannot be changed or terminated after they are created. Living trusts are trusts that you create while you’re alive. Testamentary trusts are trusts that are created after your death based on the wishes expressed in your will. An Ohio attorney at Taneff Law can help you decide which type of trust is best for you based on your goals and needs.

Wills vs Trusts
Wills vs Trusts

Wills vs Trusts

Wills and trusts are both part of estate planning, but they function differently. Wills express your wishes for your assets after your death, including who will receive your property and who will oversee their distribution. Your belongings are then distributed during the probate process, which the court oversees.

When you create a trust and fund it by transferring your assets into your trust, those financial or personal items are safe from the probate process following your death. This allows those items to be distributed more quickly and often without having to pay some types of estate tax. A trust expresses who will manage your property and under what circumstances that property will be given to the beneficiary.

Meeting with an attorney at Taneff Law in Ohio is the best way to learn more about wills and trusts and receive legal guidance during estate planning.

Benefits of a Living Trust

A living trust offers a variety of benefits, including control over your assets, privacy, the ability to avoid paying excess tax, and peace of mind.

Control over assets: Trusts give you control over your assets by allowing you to delay their distribution after your death. For example, if you want to give money to a beneficiary but want to wait until they are older or better able to manage their finances, you can put the money in a trust. You would include instructions for the trustee on when to pass the money on to the beneficiary, such as when the beneficiary reaches a certain age.

Privacy: During probate, your financial information may become available to the public. Creating and funding a living trust allows you to avoid the probate process and keep your financial information private.

Avoid excess taxation: A federal estate tax is a tax on the transfer of your estate to your heirs after your death. A living trust can reduce the amount of tax you pay or allow you to avoid the federal estate tax altogether. Property placed in a trust is not considered part of your estate. A trust can also protect your property from creditors.

Peace of mind: A living trust can give you peace of mind knowing your financial and physical property are protected and will be distributed to your loved ones according to your wishes. Working with a lawyer can help you feel confident that you have properly created an estate plan.

Tax Benefits

Tax planning is an important part of estate planning. The law requires certain taxes to be paid following a person’s death, such as gift tax or estate tax. A gift tax is paid when someone gives a gift to another person. Estate tax is a tax on estates of a certain size. This tax is paid when property is distributed to beneficiaries during probate. Reducing the size of your estate by putting assets into a trust may help you legally avoid needing to pay estate tax. An Ohio trust lawyer at Taneff Law can help you create tax strategies as part of your estate planning.

Tax Benefits
Protect Your Assets from Probate with Help from Ohio Attorneys

Protect Your Assets from Probate with Help from Ohio Attorneys

Lawyers in Ohio can assist with estate planning, including setting up a trust. Trusts make it easier and faster to distribute financial and personal belongings to beneficiaries. When the person who created the trust passes, a trustee manages the assets in the trust until it’s time to distribute them to the beneficiary. The assets in the trust bypass the probate process and can be distributed without probate court approval. That’s because anything in a trust is not considered part of the estate. Attorneys can guide you through the estate planning process and help you create a trust that protects your financial and personal property.

Protect Your Assets from Probate with Help from Ohio Attorneys

Trust Attorneys Can Help

If you’re interested in beginning the estate planning process or setting up a trust, a trust attorney can help. These attorneys know how trusts work as well as the best practices for creating trusts. They’re familiar with the probate process and how to keep your financial and personal belongings out of probate, creating a smoother process for distributing items to your beneficiaries. Trust attorneys are also knowledgeable in different areas of estate planning law, including taxes that may impact your estate and how to legally avoid excess taxes. Working with an attorney can help ensure you set up your trust properly and your assets are protected.

It’s also important to review your trusts and estate plan every 3 to 5 years as well as after major life events to see if any changes are needed. You may want to review and update your estate plan following a divorce, marriage, death of a spouse, change in the value of your personal or business assets, or move to a different state. If your family grows through birth or marriage and you want to update your list of beneficiaries or other aspects of a trust, an Ohio attorney can help with this as well.

About Taneff Law

The attorneys at Taneff Law have years of experience helping Ohio residents with wills, trusts, and estate planning. Thomas Taneff is a former Franklin County Probate Court Magistrate and has nearly 35 years of experience in private practice with a focus on probate and adoption law. He uses his expertise to help ensure your wishes for the future are carried out, your wealth is protected, and that you can pass financial and personal property on to loved ones with minimal tax consequences.

Our team assists in all areas of estate planning and administration, including creating and updating wills and trusts, estate administration, and trust administration. We also provide legal representation during estate litigation and disputes over wills and trusts. For example, our Ohio attorneys can handle cases such as will and trust disputes or contests over concerns of fraud, duress, or undue influence. We also take on cases involving missing or concealed assets, the appointment of executors or administrators, breach of fiduciary duty, and more.

To help make estate planning less overwhelming, we offer guidance and support to help you understand how probate law and trusts work, answer your questions, and make the estate planning process as smooth as possible. Taneff Law attorneys also practice in the areas of family law and adoption, so we can address a variety of your legal needs.

Contact Our Columbus Ohio Attorneys

Need a trust attorney in Columbus, Ohio? Contact Taneff Law at (614) 241-2181, or contactus@tanefflaw.com.