If you have attained a significant number of assets or a large estate that you want to give to your loved ones after your death or perhaps even while you are still around, contact a local trust attorney. A trust essentially allows one individual to manage or hold onto assets on behalf of another person. A good trust attorney can help you set up your trust in a way that will benefit you and your loved ones and see that your wishes are honored whenever assets are distributed. Here are just some of the different ways that a trust attorney can assist you and your family.

Set Up a Living Trust to Manage or Hold Funds Until Someone Comes of Age

Do you have children that you want to provide for but they are too young to be responsible with a huge windfall? A living trust can be set up to automatically disperse money to your loved ones but only after they reach a certain age or meet other specific criteria that you lay out. The trust attorney that you hire can then act as the custodian of the living trust and see that terms are complied with and ensure that funds are dispersed appropriately when the time comes.

Set Up a Trust to Avoid the Probate Process and Distribute Funds to Loved Ones More Quickly

Another way a trust attorney can assist you is by helping you avoid the probate process that normally takes place after someone dies and they have assets that need to be passed on to a loved one. By setting up a trust with specific assets and criteria for asset dispersal, you can get your loved ones to take possession of the assets in the trust after you are gone without having to first go through the standard probate process. Ideally, this will mean that assets will be able to be passed on or transferred more quickly than they otherwise would.

Set Up a Trust to Save Money on Taxes Now or in the Future

When you avoid the probate process, you may also be able to avoid some of the estate taxes that can become involved in that process. A trust can be designed as a tax shelter for certain assets and your trust attorney will ensure that your assets are transferred while keeping your family or estate's tax bill as low as possible. For more information, contact a trust attorney.