Trust Lawyers Connecticut

Providing Valuable Trust & Estate Planning Services to Our Clients and Their Family

During the estate planning process, various types of trusts may benefit you and your family’s needs. Trusts can play an essential role in these plans, regardless of your family assets. When properly created and managed, a trust can help avoid probate and seamlessly transfer property to beneficiaries and heirs.

The attorneys at the Law Offices of Ericson, Scalise & Mangan, PC have extensive experience in trust administration, and would be proud to represent your interests in the creation or management of a trust. To learn more about trusts, contact our law firm to discuss our services in a detailed case evaluation.

What Are the Different Types of Trusts?

Several different types of trusts are available to Connecticut residents:

• Revocable living trusts – flexible trusts that can be modified or revoked during your lifetime.
• Family Trusts – designed to manage and protect family property for current and future generations.
• Irrevocable trusts – trusts that cannot be changed once established, offering strong asset protection.
• Charitable trusts – allow you to donate to charitable organizations while receiving tax benefits.
• Dynasty trusts – long-term trusts that can last for multiple generations to preserve wealth.
• Grantor-retained annuity trusts – enable you to transfer property while retaining income for a set period.
• Qualified personal residence trusts – help transfer your home to beneficiaries while reducing taxes.
• Spousal estate reduction trust – designed to minimize estate taxes for married couples.
• Generation-skipping trusts – pass inheritance to grandchildren or later generations.
• Supplemental and special needs trusts – provide for disabled beneficiaries without affecting government assistance.
• Marital trusts – created for a surviving spouse while managing estate concerns.
• Credit shelter trusts – help married couples maximize exemptions.
• Spendthrift trusts – protect beneficiaries from creditors and poor financial decisions.
• Life insurance trusts – hold life insurance policies outside of your estate to reduce taxes.
• Pet trusts – provide care and financial support for your pets after your death.

Do You Need a Trust if You Have a Last Will?

While a last will and testament is often considered the foundation for a comprehensive estate plan, trusts have several advantages that wills do not.

Creating wills may simplify probate, but they do not avoid court. If you wish to avoid matters like probate litigation, it is wisest to put your hard earned assets into a trust.

Like a will, trusts allow you to designate beneficiaries. Unlike a will, which must go through the public probate process, assets are transferred almost seamlessly via a trust. By putting your belongings into a trust, you are afforded a higher level of privacy.

Trusts afford a certain level of asset protection planning to individuals and their family members. By putting property into a trust, you can protect it from creditors and frivolous lawsuits.

Additionally, trust can help reduce or avoid estate and inheritance taxes.

What is Trust Administration?

Trust administration is the process of managing a trust after the creator has passed away. In most cases, the trustee or successor trustee has the duty and responsibility of administering the trust.

Trustees have a fiduciary duty to the trust’s beneficiaries and must also always act in accordance with state and federal law.

Our trust lawyers in Connecticut are proud to assist clients through the complicated trust process.

Trust admin involves several tasks, including identifying and gathering trust assets, paying any outstanding debts, and distributing the remaining property to the beneficiaries as outlined in the trust instrument. The trustee must maintain accurate records and provide regular accounting to the beneficiaries to ensure transparency and trustworthiness. Additionally, trustees may need to work with financial advisors and legal counsel to navigate complex issues that arise.

How to Choose the Right Trustee?

When crafting a trust, it is essential that you can count on the person you have named your trustee. They must be dependable, have a high level of financial intelligence, understand the basics of investing, make smart decisions in a limited amount of time, and be accountable for keeping detailed records.

Our Connecticut trust attorneys can assist you in selecting the proper trustee.

Choosing the right trustee can significantly impact the success and effectiveness of your trust. Besides personal reliability and financial acumen, the trustee should have a thorough understanding of the legal process involved in trust administration and the ability to handle potential conflicts among beneficiaries.

Some individuals prefer to appoint a professional trustee, such as a trust lawyer, to ensure impartiality and expert management, especially for complex estates or business succession planning.

Our experienced attorneys can provide valuable advice on the pros and cons of various trustee options, and help you make an informed decision that protects your wealth and honors your wishes for the future.

Contact Our Connecticut Trust Attorney Today

To learn more about trusts, including revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, charitable giving trusts, and more, we encourage prospective new clients to contact our Connecticut trust lawyers to schedule an initial consultation with our team.

Our law firm has two locations, one in New Britain and the other in Avon, CT. To contact our New Britain office, call 860-854-3809. To reach our Avon office, you may call 860-854-3545. Our trust lawyers in Connecticut are happy to serve our clients.