A trust is a way of protecting the one you love and intend to enrich. There are several different kinds of trusts. These types of legal situations can be during the lifetime of the person creating the trust, or for the trust to come into existence upon the death of the creator.
Some parents or relatives want to be sure that the beneficiary of the trust receives money at specific ages and in specific amounts to preserve the fund set aside for such beneficiary.
Some trusts are set up and take effect during the lifetime of the creator of the trust so that the beneficiary can receive money or other property sooner than at the time of the demise of the creator. This type of trust gives control over when, how and the amount of money or certain property will be given to the beneficiary during the lifetime of the creator.
Trusts can also be set up to become effective after the death of the creator, which can be an integral part of the Last Will and Testament of the creator. The terms of the trust can be analogous to the trust set up during the lifetime of the creator regarding distribution of its assets.
There are trusts known as SNT which are very significant to benefit a challenged person. Such trust is a Special Needs Trust set up for, usually a child, which beneficiary is a challenged, incapacitated or incompetent person. Such trust assures the creator that all government benefits received by the beneficiary do not conflict, interfere with or prevent such person from continuing to receive the government benefits of Medicaid or SSI, or other grants provided by the federal and/or state government. Simultaneously with such governmental benefits the SNT can provide certain luxuries to the beneficiary to assist his or her comfort and other luxuries not provided by the government.
Of significance is a trust set up for the purposes of preventing the spouse of a beneficiary from making any claim to such fund. This occurs when an adult child is in the midst of a divorce or an unstable marriage. The parent does not desire to expose his or her assets to the right of the son-in-law or daughter-in-law to assert any right to such money or property.
A trust will also control the frequency and amount of any money or property to be given to a beneficiary to avoid and prevent the thoughtless or irresponsible spending of a beneficiary with the propensity to recklessly spend money without thought or good reason.
