Mary Carollo: Domestic Asset Protection Trusts

Whether you have a higher net worth or are in a high-liability profession, a domestic asset protection trust can help protect you and your family from lawsuits. If you wish to stop the claims of future creditors and litigators, we can help you. There are several ways to protect your assets, from gifting to family members and charities to paying for certain Medicare costs up front. Setting up a trust, however, is one of the most effective strategies.

Asset Protection Trusts and Other Trusts

Types of trusts include:

Revocable Trusts: These do not provide protection from creditors. Since the person who created the trust can amend it, that person’s creditors can also reach the trust’s assets.
Irrevocable Trusts: When a trust is created by someone other than the trust beneficiary, assets can be shielded from creditors. There are certain exceptions to this, however, such as government entities and individuals to whom are owed child support payments. Unless a trust is a self-settled irrevocable trust, it will only provide minimal protection.

We’ve talked about asset protection and asset protection trusts here, here, here, and here.

UTAH PASSES NEW DOMESTIC ASSET PROTECTION TRUST LAW

In May 2013, Utah established a new self-settled domestic asset protection trust statute. This law provides a great degree of protection: as long as a person creates and funds an irrevocable trust with his/her assets and meets the requirements of the statute. When these are met:

The person’s future creditors will not be able to attach the trust property
They will not be able to force distributions from the trust to the trust’s creator
They will not be able to require the trustees to pay directly to the creditor distributions that would otherwise be made to the trust’s creator

ALTERNATIVE ASSET PROTECTION OPTIONS FOR SALT LAKE CITY FAMILIES

Whether one of these new trusts is right for you depends on the size of your estate and your personal wishes. We listen to each client and create custom plans for asset protection. For example, your life insurance and retirement plans might already have sufficient asset protection in place, but other assets may be at risk. We can help set up special trusts, corporations and limited liability companies to protect you.

Salt Lake City Pet Trust Lawyer

Your pets have their own favorite foods, toys, playtime activities, medicines, and other specific health care needs. A pet trust allows you to specify with exactness how your pets will be cared for in your absence. They can get the veterinary care they need, at the veterinarian they are accustomed to, through directives you make in your pet trust. They can be ensured of daily exercise, proper boarding, as well as any other needs they have come to appreciate as being part of your loving family. Sure, you could informally ask your friends or heirs to take care of your pets after your death or if you become disabled. Sadly, the pounds receive many such animals, as those agreements are not enforceable and leave far too much to chance. Your pets mean too much to leave their futures so uncertain. Call us about a pet trust and make sure all of your family is cared for.

What is a pet trust?

A pet trust is a legally-enforceable document that ensures your pets are properly cared for in the event of your death or disability. Under Utah law, a trust can be created that provides for all of your pets and other domestic animals, such as horses, dogs, cats, and birds. When a trust is created, funds are set aside to provide for your animals’ on-going maintenance and care in the event of your incapacity or death. A trustee that you appoint is charged with managing those funds and may legally use them solely for the proper care of your animals, and no other purpose. A pet trust is the only sure way of providing for the continued care of your animals after your death or even if you simply become incapable of taking care of them.

Benefits of Having a Pet Trust

Many people think a will is sufficient. But it is not. Money left for animal care might be contested by heirs. A trust avoids this possibility entirely, by giving you complete control over the designated assets both during incapacity and after death. Wills are subject to court processes and may result in undesired consequences, but a trust is not: it puts you in control by doing what you want, when you want, and keeps you out of court entirely.

Through a pet trust, you can designate not only how the funds are used, but how the funds can be invested and grown over time, to continue providing care and then, following the passing of your pets, to provide for a charitable gift to a charity of your choosing (perhaps animal related, if you like). The amount you set aside can be determined according to your own animals’ needs, such as what kind of animals they are and how many, the type of boarding they need, and medical care they might require as they age.

How Seniors Can Protect Their Pets

Studies have shown that seniors live longer, healthier, more content lives when they have a companion animal. But often seniors are worried about what will happen to their animals when they pass on. Pet trusts make it possible to continue to let your pets know how much they are loved and how much happiness they have brought into your life. With a pet trust, you can rest assured knowing that your companion animals will not be left to fate after your death or incapacity.