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A spendthrift trust definition is kind of ambiguous. There aren’t really spendthrift trusts, like there is an insurance trust, children’s trust, living revocable trust, or charitable remainder trust. Let’s start with the definition of a spendthrift.

Spendthrift Trust Definition

A spendthrift is someone who can’t manage money. A spendthrift just lets money flow through their fingers. In order to protect a child or someone from their own money mismanagement skills, (some of them are very skilled at money mismanagement) a spendthrift provision ...

When you set up a living revocable trust, you’ll almost always be the original trustee. When you die, you’ll name a successor trustee. When your parents die, you may be named as their successor trustee. Nobody ever sits you down and explains the trustee liability you are taking on.

All trustees are bound by fiduciary duties. As the trustee of your own trust or as successor trustee of your parents’ trust, you are under strict obligation to protect the trust accounts ...

What You Need To Know In Setting Up a Trust

Setting up a trust is easy, if you know what to do. That’s the way it is with everything. If you know what to do, it’s not that hard. Lawyers go to school for an extra three years to learn how to speak and write so you can’t understand them. Once you know the language, drafting a trust is not really a mystery.

Setting up a trust requires a shift in thinking. ...

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REVOCABLE AND IRREVOCABLE TRUST PROPERTIES

“What’s the difference between revocable and irrevocable trusts?” It’s not a trick question. The revocable trust is revocable and the irrevocable trust is irrevocable. I don’t mean to be silly, but that’s the difference.

Ok, there are other differences when it comes to the revocable vs. irrevocable trust decision. The income tax, estate tax, and asset protection issues all hinge on whether you have a revocable trust or irrevocable trust.

REVOCABLE TRUST VS IRREVOCABLE TRUST ...

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WRITING WILLS

Writing wills is probably the easiest thing a lawyer can do. Shortly after I graduated from law school I was diagnosed with final stage terminal cancer. I was hospitalized for five months straight and then couldn’t work for several years. It was a major battle. When you’ve been that sick you are unemployable, so I finally had to hang out a shingle for a law office and practiced alone. I had no clue what to do, so I started to learn about writing wills. Uncle ...

When you’re considering setting up a trust to avoid probate, you’ll be “sold” a living revocable trust. A married couple can have individual trusts or joint trusts. Joint trusts will have only one physical trust document. An individual trust for the husband and an individual trust for the wife will usually be created using two separate trust documents. However, a single document could be used to describe two separate trusts.

A joint revocable trust is probably the easiest form of living ...

There are definitely two camps in the lawyers’ world, and they are split over the living trust vs will controversy. My mentor in law school and I have argued for 30 years over whether a will is sufficient for a client or if they routinely need a living trust. Our argument is pretty much the classic living trust vs will battle that has raged since the early 1970’s. Actually, both sides of the wills trusts argument has some truth to it.
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Living Trusts?

Living trusts, what are they?  There is a plethora of information on the internet about estates and trusts. I’m going to answer questions the other sites don’t answer. You’ll get the nitty gritty inside story on living trust information that others often hide.

Living Trusts VS Irrevocable Trusts

There are dozens of different types of trusts, but they all fall into two categories living trusts which are revocable trusts and irrevocable trusts. Obviously, with revocable trusts you can change your ...

DIY Wills – How Easy Is It?

Do it yourself wills, aka DIY wills are better than doing nothing, but I think you need to learn a little bit about legal wills before you jump in. The DIY wills industry is going nuts, because people feel like they are getting a simple document and getting ripped off for hundreds of dollars when they go to the lawyers. Yes, I’m a lawyer, but I think people can do DIY wills and come ...

Estate Planning Mistakes and Tips

By Lee R. Phillips

Secret tips in estate planning aren’t really that secret. However, the attorneys “hide the ball” and speak in big words so that the general public can’t understand. After all, as an attorney you have to go to school for an extra three years, so that you can learn to speak and write so the public can’t understand. So in a sense, maybe there are a lot of secret tips in estate planning.
One of the biggest ...