Why Ohio Asset Protection Attorneys Recommend Passing Assets to Your Children Via Trusts

Ohio asset protection attorneys usually recommend that wealthy families use trusts to pass their assets and estates on to their children. From legacy trusts to trust funds for children, trusts offer a number of advantages to help ensure your estate and assets are preserved for your children and future descendants in the way that you desire with minimal taxes and minimum risk of loss to creditors.

At our Dayton, Ohio asset protection attorneys’ office, we use a variety of trusts depending on our clients’ needs. While there are common strategies used by Ohio asset protection attorneys that have good track records for results, no two people have the same situation, goals and details. Only by working with a skilled and experienced attorney can you develop a plan that meets your specific needs.

10 Reasons Ohio Asset Protection Attorneys Recommend Trusts

1. Minimize estate taxes — Assets transferred to a completed gift irrevocable trust at least three years prior to the donor’s death are not counted among the donor’s estate and avoid estate taxes. If worth more than $5 million (2012), the assets may be subject to gift taxes, but any appreciation of the assets completely avoids estate and gift taxes.
2. Shield assets from creditors — Assets placed in a properly structured asset protection trust are protected from most creditors and lawsuits. Our Ohio asset protection attorneys strongly recommend Wyoming asset protection trusts for this purpose.
3. Avoid expense and delay of probate — Probate can be very expensive, especially for folks with large, complicated estates. Probate can also take a year or more before a person’s children see any of their estate. Assets in trusts do not go through probate and can be distributed almost immediately after death.
4. Preserve assets for children till they’re grown — A trustfund for children, in the event the parents die before the children grow up, can manage assets so they are preserved until the children are old enough to inherit them. Ohio asset protection attorneys can also structure trust funds to help pay for the children’s expenses as they grow up.
5. Minimize income taxes — By placing income-generating assets into certain kinds of trusts, the income can be shifted to heirs in a lower tax bracket than the Trustmaker, thus reducing the amount of tax paid on that income.
6. Greater control over who receives your estate — A trust is one of the best ways to ensure an estate is received by the intended heirs. If an estate goes through probate, the will can be challenged and the assets distributed according to preference of the law rather than the decedent’s desires. A trust created by our Dayton, Ohio asset protection attorneys’ office is not vulnerable in this way.
7. Increased confidentiality — Wills and probate are a matter of public record. When a will is probated, anyone can go down to the courthouse and read it to find out how much was in the estate and who received it. Trusts, on the other hand, are handled privately, without the oversight of a court.
8. Control how much heirs receive, and what they can spend it on — Through a trustfund for their children, an individual can control when their children receive an inheritance and what they can spend it on. For instance, Ohio asset protection attorneys can include provisions to distribute the inheritance in increments or allow larger distributions for purchasing a house or starting a business. This protects the inheritance from abusive spending and creditors.
9. Preserve assets for future generations — A legacy trust can give an estate longer life so that it benefits numerous generations. Properly structured in the right state, assets in a legacy trust can continue to earn income and appreciate forever.
10. Qualify for Medicaid for long-term care needs without endangering your estate — Ohio asset protection attorneys can structure trusts to keep assets out of the hands of Medicaid and nursing homes should you require long-term care and need Medicaid to pay for it.

In Dayton, Ohio, the asset protection attorney’s office of Gudorf Law Group, LLC, can help you establish an asset protection trust, legacy trust or trust fund for your children. Call our Ohio asset protection attorney’s office at 1-877-483-6730 to schedule a free consultation.