Irrevocable Trust Attorneys in Napa, California

Showing Clients How to Protect Valuable Assets

If you’re beginning the estate planning process, you’ll need to first understand the tools that will best protect your assets over the years. After all, the point of estate planning is to ensure your family members will be taken care of when you’re no longer here to provide for them. 

At Celaya Law, we use a variety of tools to help clients achieve their estate planning goals, so we can help you whether you’re looking into wills, living trusts, or other options. One particular estate planning solution we can assist you with is creating an irrevocable trust, which offers protections revocable trusts do not provide. If you’re curious whether this estate planning option would work for your circumstances, contact our Napa law office to talk to an experienced attorney.

How Do Irrevocable Trusts Work?

When you make an irrevocable trust, you agree to transfer ownership of your assets to a beneficiary. Once this occurs, you won’t have access to the property in the trust because it’s not legally yours anymore, so you can’t change the assets or beneficiaries. 

Your chosen trustee will manage the trust on your behalf. Once you pass away, they will ensure the assets get distributed to your loved ones in accordance with the instructions in the trust. If you have questions about whether this type of trust is right for you as you plan your future, contact our experienced estate planning attorneys at our Napa, California law firm.

What Are the Benefits of Opening an Irrevocable Trust?

If transferring ownership of your wealth to a trust makes you nervous, you should consider the benefits of doing so. When the property in the trust is no longer considered yours, it’s protected from potential threats, such as taxes, lawsuits, and collections efforts from creditors. 

In fact, one of the main benefits of opening an irrevocable trust is the chance to reduce your estate and income taxes. When your investment properties, bank accounts, insurance policies, and other high-value items are not in your name anymore, your tax liability is typically lower. Not only does this save you money in taxes, but it can also make you eligible for government benefits that consider your income, such as Medicaid. 

Another benefit is that your assets have protection from legal action. For example, if someone wins a lawsuit against you, they won’t have access to the property in the trust since it belongs to your beneficiaries, not you. For the same reason, creditors who come after you for money won’t have access to the items in the trust, either.

What If You Need to Make Changes to Your Trust?

If you anticipate needing to add or remove assets or beneficiaries throughout the life of your living trust, you should open a revocable trust rather than an irrevocable one. After all, the point of an irrevocable trust is to transfer ownership of the assets to a beneficiary, so you can’t count on having a chance to make changes to the trust. 

Of course, sometimes things change over the years, and a trust that you never planned to modify suddenly needs to be adjusted. In that case, you can make changes as long as all the listed beneficiaries approve. 

If you can’t get everyone’s approval, your trustee can petition the court to change or terminate the trust as long as it’s clear that continuing it as is would defeat its original purpose. The judge will consider the best interests of the family members named as beneficiaries when making this decision, so keep this in mind before requesting changes to your trust.

Are You Ready to Talk to Irrevocable Trust Attorneys in Napa, California?

If you’re considering including an irrevocable trust as part of your estate plans, you should contact an attorney with years of experience advising clients as they plan for their future. At Celaya Law, we understand the urge to make sure your loved ones are provided for after you’re no longer here. That’s why we work hard to ensure our legal services in the estate planning practice area will give you peace of mind knowing your family members will get the inheritance you wish to leave them.

Whether you’re ready to initiate an irrevocable trust today or want to know how trusts differ from wills, our estate planning lawyers would be happy to help. When you contact us, a caring Napa Valley attorney will explain the benefits, drawbacks, and costs of each estate planning tool you’re considering. Call 707-754-0977 to speak to a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer during your consultation.