Irrevocable Living Trusts

Do you know what an Irrevocable Living Trust is? Well, maybe you should at least investigate it. Because, for some people, it’s a useful estate planning tool.

I’ve previously written about revocable living trusts…describing them as a box with an open top, in which you can add or pull things out. In an irrevocable living trust, you can’t pull anything out, however; once it’s in there – financial plans, assets, etc. – it’s in there. So if you piled all of your assets into an irrevocable living trust, and you needed to get some of them out so you can make some changes…tough luck!

Why, then, do I say it’s a useful estate planning tool for some people? Simple. A revocable trust offers no asset protection. And if you can get your hands on it anytime you want, so can Medicaid or creditors.

But some people don’t care if they can’t get to at least some of their assets…because that means creditors or Medicaid can’t get to them, either. They want a special-purpose trust that effectively locks out anyone trying to get a slice of what’s theirs. And these people add irrevocable trusts to their estate plan – because that’s exactly what they offer. Asset protection, plain and simple.

Most of us, though, want to have some control over our assets. And that’s why many people have a revocable living trust, for flexibility, and also an irrevocable trust – into which they can place specific assets – for protection.

Many of our clients are concerned about losing the assets they’ve worked so hard to accumulate, if they end up in a nursing home. With a special-purpose trust, though, such as a Medicaid Retained Income Trust, you can be assured your assets will still be income-producing…but only for you…not Medicaid or creditors!

Confusing? That’s why we’re here?

At The Law Offices of Alice Reiter Feld & Associates, we’ve been designing customized estate plans (every type of will and trust you can think of!) for South Florida families for 33 years. In addition, we’ve also designed asset protection plans, long-term care plans, and protocols for assistance when dealing with Medicaid or trying for veterans’ benefits. We’re elder law attorneys. And our sole interest is to protect our clients and their assets.

We can help you, too. But only if you pick up the phone.