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When You Need a Trust, Whom Do You Trust?

Melbourne trust lawyers at Mommers & Colombo, Attorneys at Law

A trust can seem complicated and does require a knowledgeable Melbourne trust lawyer, but the premise is simple. You create a trust, retitle your real estate, bank accounts and other assets into the name of your trust, and your assets avoid probate at your death. And, best of all, during your lifetime you have complete control over all assets in trust, because they are yours. So you have the benefit of keeping control over all of your assets while knowing that they will not have to go through probate after you die. And, because your trust can designate who would handle your assets and pay your bills should you become incapacitated during your lifetime, a revocable living trust can also help avoid a court supervised guardianship over you should you become incapacitated. Upon your death, the property is passed on to your beneficiaries, free of probate. You can create a trust for just yourself. A married couple may create a joint revocable living trust for themselves, or individual living trusts for themselves.

As your Brevard County trust lawyer, we can also assist you with establishing an irrevocable trust, for purposes such as avoiding probate, protecting assets from estate taxes, protecting assets from creditors, providing for family members with special needs, and charitable giving. Although you give up control of your assets and this type of trust, sometimes those decisions are warranted based on your individual circumstances and goals.

When the time comes to create a trust, you will need an experienced Brevard County trust attorney. Our trust attorneys at Mommers & Colombo, Attorneys at Law have been creating trusts as part of our estate planning practice for more than 17 years. Our skilled attorneys sit with you to discuss your assets and determine what you hope to accomplish. There are different types of trusts, including living, testamentary, revocable and irrevocable. We explain all your options so that you can make decisions that are right for you.

Types of Trusts

As stated earlier, there are many different types of trusts. Your Melbourne attorney is here to help you decide which type is best for you. Some of the most common trusts include:

  • Living trust – You create a revocable living trust for yourself. You can be the trustee of your own living trust, keeping full control over all property held in trust. Living trusts can help you avoid probate, reduce estate taxes or set up long-term property management.
  • Testamentary trust – Developed as part of your will, a testamentary trust is the same as a living trust except it does not become active until after your death. You can leave a devise (inheritance) to a minor child, minor grandchild, or even adult beneficiary, in trust. Your will creates the trust, and it comes into existence after your death.
  • Revocable trust – This allows you (the grantor) the ability to make changes to your trust whenever you see fit.
  • Irrevocable trust – This type of trust cannot be altered or amended in any way once it is created.

There are benefits and drawbacks to every type of trust, so it’s up to you and your trust lawyer to decide which option is best for you. Whether you need a Melbourne special needs trust or something simple and straightforward, the attorneys at Mommers & Colombo, Attorneys at Law can help.

Call Trust lawyer Pierre Mommers today at 321-751-1000.

Mommers & Colombo, Attorneys at Law, serves clients in Florida cities such as Melbourne, Palm Bay, Cocoa, Satellite Beach, Melbourne Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, Suntree, Titusville and others throughout Brevard County and Indian River County.