Wills and Trust

Each individual and family has unique needs based upon their current stage in life. At Hanten & Associates, we establish custom-drafted wills and trusts that are made to meet our clients' unique needs.

Our wills and trust services include the following:

We can help you in any life situation whether you have a new baby in the family and are interested in establishing a guardianship or you have reached retirement, and have accumulated some wealth and would like to achieve some estate tax savings through the use of a more sophisticated will. Our firm provides experienced and effective representation to those who are interested in asset protection. We can help you ensure that your assets are passed along according to your wishes.

Our attorneys are experienced in probate-law and can explain the advisability of establishing trusts and other estate planning tools that will help you plan for the financial future.

Please contact Hanten & Assosiates to speak with a lawyer about will and trust inquiries.

Why to Have a Will?

It is a common misconsumtion that person has to have a large amount amount of property or assets for a will to be necessary. Nevertheless, people on all financial levels should to consider the benefits of establishing a will.

The following are five important reasons to have a will - even if you do not have substantial assets.

• Naming guardians for any minor children.
• If you do not have a will, your assets will pass under the laws of intestacy as dictated by state law.
• You can avoid the cost of posting a surety bond with a standard provision in your will. If you die without this provision, an administrator must be appointed to administer your will and an expensive surety bond must be posted.
• You can avoid assets being left to minor children, which would otherwise involve posting another surety bond until each child attains the age of 18, or deposit estate assets with a surrogate.
• You can control the date that your children inherit assets. If not noted otherwise in a will, all of the assets will be inherited by children at the age of 18 —an age probably too young for most children to handle substantial funds.

Trust

As with wills, many people think that trusts are only useful for the very wealthy. However, trusts are a great estate planning tool. A trust is a legal property interest held by one person, called the trustee, for the benefit of another person, called the beneficiary.The person establishing the trust is called the grantor.

Unlike with a will, one main benefit of all trusts is the fact that your property won't go through probate process when you die. It will help you to avoid the costs associated with probate avoid paying some death taxes. By establishing a trust, a grantor transfers his or her property while still being alive. A trust can be revocable or irrevocable.

• Revocable trust: A revocable Trust is one that can be amended or terminated by the settlor or grantor at any time and for any reason. Upon grantor's death, all assets held in the revocable trust are distributed according to the terms of the trust.
• Irrevocable trust: An irrevocable trust, once established cannot be terminated or altered for any reason. Irrevocable trusts offer tax advantages that revocable trusts do not. Irrevocable trusts are often used to own life insurance policies to keep the life insurance proceeds out of an insured's estate for estate tax purposes.
• Life insurance trust - This is an irrevocable trust established for purposes of owning a life insurance policy. It is commonly used when the combined assets of a client, including life insurance, retirement benefits, real estate, and other assets exceed estate tax exemptions.
• Credit shelter trust - This type of trust helps to protect assets from estate tax for couples whose combined assets exceed $675,000.