FAST FACTS
- A trust is writing your intentions on a piece of paper so someone gets rights and benefits.
- A trust can protect real estate, bank/saving accounts, investments, business interests and notes payable to you.
- Trusts are not just for rich people, they are a powerful and necessary tool.
Today’s video is going to be answering the question, “What is a trust?”
We’re not going to be talking about the difference, necessarily, between a will and a trust. We’re going to be talking more specifically about what is a trust.
A trust, in its most elemental basic level, is words on a piece of paper. I’m not trying to be silly, OK? Words mean things in American law and British law.
The history of trust go back hundreds of years, so very stable law. It is writing your intentions on a piece of paper, giving certain rights to someone, so someone gets a benefit from it. Also, someone is in control of it. That’s the essence of a trust. Someone gets a benefit and someone is in control.
Trust Misconceptions
Now, the thing that’s confusing for people, that make people think that a trust is, “Oh, got to be very complicated. It’s got to be for rich people,” is they think that a trust has to be managed by some third party. Some trust, some bank, or some person you don’t know. That is not correct at all.
For example, you could leave a trust for your wife to protect her against her next husband, and your wife could be in charge of that money. You can leave a trust for your daughter, and your daughter is the beneficiary. She gets the benefit, and she manages it herself. She’s the manager. By doing that, you are giving them the gift of asset protection.
Now, we have to say to ourselves, “Well, Jeff, that doesn’t make any sense. Why is that so?” In a way, doesn’t really matter why it’s so. It’s just the way the law is. What I tell people is, “Take your common sense and set it outside.” I don’t mean to be patronizing. I tell this amongst staff, “Common sense doesn’t matter. We’re talking about the law here.”
Trust Uses
A trust is a very useful device for asset protection, keeping money in your bloodline, making sure your grandchildren don’t blow the money. A trust talks about who gets the money, who’s in charge of money, and it can be the same person. Then, who gets it later, and when do they get it, and how do they get it.
Very important, a trust is not really and truly controlling from the grave. Yes, it can be controlling from the grave, but what it really is in the modern world, modern estate planning is protecting. You are giving something that your beneficiary cannot get on their own. A level of asset protection that’s impossible for them to get unless you give it to them at that time that they become the beneficiary.
A Trust & Probate
A trust is governed by a set of laws that do not have to be overlooked, supervised by the probate court. What that means is it avoids probate. Not only that, but it doesn’t matter what state you’re in, it travels very well.
Asset protection, child protection, grandchild protection, spouse protection. All of those things can be achieved through a trust. They are a very powerful, powerful tool. They are not in any way just for rich people.
Do not think that they’re overly complicated. Some people that are financial planners, for example, might think that they are overly complicated. That is not the case. They are speaking about something that they do not have legal experience to discuss.
We at Fouts Law Group focus on asset protection for you and for your family. We specialize in that. We are not general practitioners. We want to share our knowledge with you. We want you to have a plan that actually functions and doesn’t just look pretty.
Give us a call if you’d like to schedule a free consultation. When you come in, I’ll also give you a copy of my book. It is a real book available on Amazon, but you won’t have to pay for it. It’s called “Estate Planning in Georgia,” how to leave your assets in a smart way and protect it.
