What’s the Difference Between a Trust and an Inheritance?

The biggest driver of demand for estate planning trusts over the last two decades has been minimizing the consequences of estate taxes. The biggest considerations for many people from an estate planning sense today are income and capital gains taxes. 

There are many positive reasons to consider creating a trust as opposed to passing things on outright. Trusts are powerful vehicles for allowing individuals to manage assets for themselves, their beneficiaries and their families both during their lifetime and after they pass away. Trusts allow you to pass assets on to your children in a controlled and thoughtful manner and give you more control over how those assets remain available to others and who is able to access them.

For wealthy parents especially, trusts make sense for protecting children from overspending. Trusts are a very powerful means to provide for the administration of wealth and property for family as well as philanthropy. Meeting with the right advisor in the form of an estate planning attorney can help you reveal some of the most pertinent issues you should consider when putting together a trust.