Marshfield Trusts Lawyer

Marshfield Trusts Attorney

While thinking of the future can cause uncertainty, taking control of your future through creating legal trusts is an essential way to protect your family. Contacting a knowledgeable Marshfield trusts lawyer is key to understanding the full extent of Massachusetts’ unique estate planning laws.

Here at Albanese Law, LLC, we offer free consultations to Marshfield residents to discuss the details of your family’s needs to create legally enforceable plans.

Types of Trusts in Massachusetts

Trusts are important documents used to help individuals control how their assets are handled, both during their lifetime and after they pass away. The two main types of trusts are revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts. Both types are designed to avoid your estate going through probate, which is the legal process that courts use to settle a person’s estate after they pass away.

Probate can be time-consuming and expensive, so trusts create a way to distribute your assets quickly, making it easier for your loved ones. There are a few key components to a trust:

• This refers to the individual who creates the trust and decides what it outlines.
• This refers to the person or institution responsible for managing the trust and following its instructions. In some cases, the grantor will also act as the trustee while alive.

• These are the people or organizations that will receive assets (real estate, personal items, bank accounts) from the trust. The grantor’s loved ones are usually there.

Revocable Trust

A revocable trust permits the grantor to change it over their lifetime, such as adding new property to the document or even canceling it completely. Because the grantor controls the assets, a revocable trust doesn’t protect them from creditors or government programs like Medicaid.

This means that MassHealth counts those assets as an available resource when deciding if you or your spouse qualify. If you have high-value assets in a revocable trust, you might not be eligible for MassHealth until you spend most of that money down.

Irrevocable Trust

A way to avoid this is by opting instead to create an irrevocable trust. This type of trust can’t be changed once it is created. The assets placed in an irrevocable trust essentially belong to the trust, not the individual creating it.

As of 2023, 81% of Marshfield residents were homeowners. An irrevocable trust is often used to protect assets for future generations, like children or grandchildren, or to hold life insurance policies.

Irrevocable trusts offer stronger protection against creditors and can help people more easily qualify for Medicaid, as long as the assets were transferred into an irrevocable trust at least five years before you apply for MassHealth.

The Benefits of Creating a Trust

Using trusts as part of estate planning can provide many benefits. Trusts help avoid the delays and costs of probate court, keeping assets available for beneficiaries without legal pushback.

Additionally, trusts can help reduce estate taxes and provide information on how assets should be managed if the grantor becomes unable to handle their affairs.

Contacting a Trusted Massachusetts Law Firm

With the average income of Marshfield residents being $125,525 as of 2023, proper trust planning is essential to protecting your assets. Albanese Law, LLC helps Marshfield families navigate the full process of creating, funding, and administering trusts in compliance with Massachusetts law.

We offer free consultations to residents in Marshfield and surrounding areas to discuss the full extent of your family’s needs. To begin planning your estate and creating a trust tailored to your specific needs, contact us today.