• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • Communities We Serve
      • Elizabethtown
      • Frankfort
      • Jeffersontown
      • Matthews
      • Middletown
      • Prospect
    • Meet Our Team
  • Services
    • Asset & Business Planning
    • Elder Law & Medicaid Planning
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning Services
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Loss of a Loved One
    • Power of Attorney
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration & Probate
    • Young Families
  • Resources
    • Client Resources
      • Business Succession Planning Checklist
      • Estate Planning Seminars
      • Estate Planning Worksheet
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Kentucky Retirement Resources
      • Louisville Elder Law Resources
      • Louisville Probate Resources
      • Presentations
    • Elder Law Reports
    • Finding the Right Estate Planning Firm
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Estate Planning Frequently Asked Questions
      • LGBTQ Frequently Asked Questions
    • Newsletters
    • Reports
      • Advanced Estate Planning
      • Basic Estate Planning
      • Estate Planning For Niches
      • Trust Administration
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Gersh Law Offices, P.S.C. | Louisville, KY

Estate Planning | Medicaid | VA

Connect with us today(502) 423-7023

Attend a Free Seminar
Home / Estate Planning Articles / Why Your Trust Shouldn’t be Short and Sweet

Why Your Trust Shouldn’t be Short and Sweet

June 29, 2012

Compliments of Our Law Firm,
By: The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys

You’ve just returned from your estate planning attorney’s office with a draft of your new Trust. As you read through the document, the first thing you notice is how long it is. You’re not rich or famous. Does it really take pages and pages of legal jargon to accomplish your intentions for your estate? You’ve seen do-it-yourself Trust kits online, and they look like they’re only a few pages long.

A short and sweet Trust might be easier to read through, but it is likely not an adequate foundation for a solid estate plan. One purpose of a Trust is to anticipate issues that might arise after your disability or death; another is to provide instructions for what should be done with your assets in different situations. A few pages of simple instructions just are not sufficient to address all – or even most – of the potential situations that might arise.

Empowering Your Trustee

Much of your Trust is devoted to defining the powers and duties of your Trustee, the person in charge of managing your Trust assets. Your Trustee may be faced with any number of situations to deal with, and a well-planned Trust will empower him or her to manage the Trust in a way that best suits the Trust beneficiaries while complying with your wishes.

When your Trust does not specifically empower your Trustee to take certain actions on behalf of the beneficiaries, your Trustee’s hands can be tied. For example, do you want your Trustee to be able to mortgage your home to pay for your children’s education or for medical expenses? If your Trust does not explicitly authorize your Trustee to do this, the bank might be concerned that your Trustee is not permitted to sign the mortgage documents.

Identifying Your Beneficiaries

Another portion of your Trust identifies your beneficiaries. At first blush, it seems like this should be the shortest part of the document. After all, you just need to list a few names, right?

Not necessarily. Imagine you want to make Amanda, Ben, and Charlie your Trust beneficiaries. If your Trust document simply names these beneficiaries and goes no further, a spectrum of potential problems arises. What if Amanda dies before you, and she leaves behind children? Should her children inherit her share of the Trust assets, or should Ben and Charlie divide the Trust assets evenly? If you want Amanda’s children to inherit her share of the assets, in what proportion? What if Amanda has adopted children or step-children – should they be treated the same as her biological children?

This is just a taste of the many issues addressed by a good Trust. A well-drafted Trust document anticipates as many potential questions and problems as possible, and resolves them according to your wishes. This simply can’t be done in a handful of pages.

An experienced estate planning attorney will delve into your financial and personal situation, help you clarify your hopes, wishes, and intentions for your loved ones, and then draft a detailed Trust designed to bring your plans to life.

Other Articles You May Find Useful

Leaving assets to a Beneficiary
Leaving Assets Can Be Tricky – Part 3
Leaving assets to a Beneficiary
Leaving Assets Can Be Tricky – Part 2
Leaving assets to a Beneficiary
Leaving Assets Can Be Tricky
Sign your Financial Power of Attorney and Healthcare Power of Attorney
The Basics: “HIPAA” Powers
Sign your Financial Power of Attorney and Healthcare Power of Attorney
The Basics: Power of Attorney for Healthcare
Sign your Financial Power of Attorney and Healthcare Power of Attorney
The Basics: Financial Power of Attorney

Primary Sidebar

FREE ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHEET

Download our free "Protecting the Future" worksheet to get started!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin

Testimonials

5 star
Client Review
September 18, 2020
    

I have been a client of Cochran Gersh Law Offices since 2005. I can’t say enough good things about them. Absolutely first rate! Thanks to the team, my estate and trusts are set up and my family won’t have to deal with an unorganized mess when I am gone.

default image
– JIM

Where We Are

Cochran Gersh Law Office
916 Lilly Creek Road, Suite 102
Louisville, KY 40243
Phone: (502) 423-7023
Fax: (502) 423-1108

See Larger Map Get Directions

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Map

map for Cochrangersh Law Offices, P.S.C. office

Footer

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
footer-logo

Cochran Gersh Law Office
All Right Reseved.

Attorney Advertisement

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.