What You Should Know About Testamentary Trusts

There are many different components to a comprehensive estate plan and one of these could be a testamentary trust. This legal document is usually drafted inside of your will and becomes effective at the time of your death as part of your estate planning strategy in NH.

Benefactors are able to exert some control over the distribution of how their assets are passed on to loved ones by using a testamentary trust. This is in fact one of the most common reasons to sit down with an estate planning attorney and craft a testamentary trust. If your goal is to provide for your children after your death, you could have the ability within your testamentary trust to design how those assets are paid out, such as at certain ages.

The testamentary trust will remove the property from your personal ownership and place it inside the trust for your heirs’ benefit. The trust comes into effect when a few different criteria have been met. First of all, the one who created the trust must have passed away, the will has gone through the probate process and the terms of the trust remain relevant, such as in cases in which the heirs named in the testamentary trust are still younger than the ages outlined in the document.

A testamentary trust is different from a living trust. This is because a living trust goes into effect during the grantor’s life. If you are not sure which type of trust is most beneficial for your unique situation, you will want to discuss this with a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer in New Hampshire.