Bellevue Trust Attorney

Creating Effective Trusts for Clients In & Around Greater Bellevue

Like wills, trusts are another estate planning vehicle that can ensure the financial security of your family and beneficiaries. Many different types of trusts exist that can be structured for specific purposes. These legal documents are extremely versatile and can become effective while you are alive or go into effect after your death.

They can be revocable, meaning you can change them while alive, or irrevocable, meaning they cannot be amended. Unlike a will, they also typically do not need court validation and can go into effect outside of the probate process. This saves time, money, and emotional stress for your heirs.

Secure Your Future with a Bellevue Trust Lawyer

At Jerimy Kirschner & Associates, PLLC, every trust attorney has more than a decade of experience in drafting and executing effective and valid trusts for clients. In addition, our law estate planning firm focuses the lion’s share of its practice on estate law and planning. Thus we have a deep understanding of what various trusts can do, how to create effective trust documents, and how to help you avoid any pitfalls in this matter.

Our estate planning lawyers will start by getting a comprehensive understanding of your estate, family dynamics, and your legal objectives to ensure that we strategize the optimum and most useful trust(s) for you.

Let a Bellevue trust lawyer answer your questions concerning a trust in a free estate planning consult. Phone us at (206) 203-8802 to book your consultation or contact us online. 

What Is a Trust?

A trust is a legal method for the transfer of your estate. It creates a fiduciary relationship in which you as the trustor give someone else (the trustee) the authority to manage your property and assets for the benefit of one or more third parties (your heirs and beneficiaries).

Various types of trusts that can be set up include but are not limited to:

• Living trusts
• Revocable trusts
• Irrevocable trusts
• Charitable trusts
• Trusts set up for those with special needs
• Pet trusts
• Asset protection trusts

What is a Living Trust?

One of the most common trusts used in estate planning is the living trust. These are usually revocable trusts set up to transfer your assets to loved ones after your death. It is named a living trust because it is created while you are alive and you generally act as the trustee, managing your assets according to your wishes. When you pass away, the trustees whom you have designated to administer your trust at that point take over.

They have a legal and fiduciary duty to pass your assets along to your beneficiaries according to the instructions you have left in the trust documents. Because your trust does not have to be “probated,” your assets and belongings can be distributed directly and immediately to your named heirs and beneficiaries.

Benefits of a Trust

The benefits of a living trust are many. It allows you to stay in control of your assets while you are alive and keeps the details of your estate and your plans for its transfer private and out of the courts. It also allows you to name a successor trustee to manage your assets not only after your death but if you become incapacitated as well.

It further allows for the trustee’s management of assets designated for minors to continue until those children reach an age that you have decided is best for them to receive an inheritance.