Trust Lawyer Fort Collins, CO

Trust Lawyer Fort Collins, CO

If you want to establish a trust, you should speak to a trust lawyer in Fort Collins, CO. A trust is a complex legal document, so you want someone knowledgeable and experienced on your side. A trust lawyer can help you create a valid trust that clearly states your wishes.

Benefits of a Trust

A trust is an estate planning document that allows you to manage your assets while you’re still alive. Here are a few benefits of establishing a trust:

• Skip the Probate Process: Probate is the process by which an estate plan is proved valid in court. However, the process is known for being lengthy and costly. Your heirs may have to wait quite a while to receive their inheritances if they go through probate. That’s one reason to consider establishing a trust. The assets in a trust typically don’t have to go through the probate process. Your heirs can receive their inheritances sooner and won’t have to pay probate fees.

• Assist During Physical or Mental Incapacity: Life can be unpredictable at times. If you happen to become physically or mentally incapacitated during your lifetime, you’ll be thankful to have a trust. The legal document allows you to appoint a trustee to manage your financial and legal affairs when you’re not capable of doing so yourself. 

• Offer Flexibility: With a trust, you will also have more flexibility with your assets. For instance, you may want to set aside a trust for your grandchildren, but only want them to use that money toward college. Or you may decide to give your grandchildren their full inheritance once they turn 21. A trust lawyer in Fort Collins, CO can help you state these instructions in clear language.

• Provide Privacy: Establishing a trust will also let you keep your financial matters private. Since it doesn’t have to go through the probate process, the public won’t have any information about your assets.
• Prevent Court Challenges: After you’re gone, you don’t want your family to fight over your assets in court. It will just create more stress for everyone during an already difficult time. If you create a trust instead of a will, it will be more difficult to contest it in court.

If you’re interested in creating a trust, you should schedule a free consultation with William B. Moore, a trust lawyer in Fort Collins, CO. 

Deciding Between a Will or Trust

You’ll need help from a trust lawyer Fort Collins, CO trusts if you want to plan your future, but the first step means looking at your estate and deciding which path you want to take. Wills and trusts are both excellent ways to ensure your loved ones are looked after when you’re no longer around to do so yourself, but you’ll have to decide which would be best for your situation.

William B. Moore is ready to help you take that first step towards planning your estate. Read on to learn more about the differences between wills and trusts, and get in touch with us today to get started.

What is a Will?

A will is a list of your assets and beneficiaries. Translated from legalese, this means a list of your possessions, and a list of the people you want to take ownership of those possessions after your death. Beneficiaries can include your family, your friends, and anyone else you’d like to add to the list. 

It sounds simple, and it usually is – right up until it’s time to divide and distribute your assets after your death. If you leave behind a will, your estate will have to go through probate, which is a lengthy and frustrating procedure that involves tracking down your assets and beneficiaries, valuing your assets, and paying off your creditors and taxes.

There’s another complication when it comes to wills: they can be contested. If you had a falling out with a family member, or you have an ex-spouse hiding somewhere waiting to take a slice of your estate, probate is when they’ll make their move. They can fight your will in court, and if they have a good enough lawyer they can potentially take everything you’re leaving behind.

Despite these shortcomings, wills are a popular tool for estate planning. They’re simple to set up, and don’t require hands-on management. Just keep in mind the headache that might be waiting for your beneficiaries after your death.

What is a Trust?

Trusts fill a similar role as will. They include a list of your assets and a list of your beneficiaries, but they’re in the hands of a third-party who will distribute your assets after your death. Unlike a will, there’s no need for probate, and trusts are generally uncontestable. With the help of a Fort Collins trust lawyer, you can minimize the trouble your beneficiaries will have to go through to get whatever you’re leaving behind for them.

While they have their benefits over wills, trusts still have drawbacks. Trusts are expensive to set up, and can be a little complicated to manage. While wills are only active after your death, a trust requires constant maintenance and input from the minute it’s actually set up for you.

If wills are easy to set up and difficult to execute, trusts are the opposite. They cut probate out of the equation, but they require more hands-on management from your end during your lifetime. If you want to decide whether a will or a trust is better for you, you can always get in touch with a trust lawyer for more information.

Get in Touch with William B. Moore Today

Estate planning takes time, and if you want to make sure your family and friends receive what you’re leaving behind for them, you need legal assistance to make sure everything goes smoothly. Get in touch with William B. Moore and see how a Fort Collins trust lawyer can help you plan your future.