Trusts/Estates

State Street Advisers provides both trust and estate planning services in cooperation with your estate and/or trust attorney.

Several situations for which Trust Planning may be helpful are:

• Wealthy children (who may let it go another generation or more)
• Financially Irresponsible Beneficiaries
• Special Needs Beneficiaries
• Addicts
• Minors
• Pets
• Second Marriages

If you answer YES to any of the following, then Trust Planning is definitely for you:

• Are you the grantor or the beneficiary of a funded trust? There are trust strategies in these situations that could benefit you by consolidating your financial affairs with one nationally chartered, independent trust company.
• Do you or a relative misplace assets and statements, lose dividend checks, don't keep accurate records and are not really interested in your finances? Aggregating your wealth using a trust to maintain a permanent record to save administrative time and aggravation may be the answer.
• Do you wish to have the comfort of knowing that in the event of disability your 'affairs' are in order and your instructions will be carried out? Finding stable and reliable financial solutions for yourself or an older relative can be a bridge to the next generation and protect the longevity of your assets.
• Do you have highly appreciated assets? Are you interested in the combination of a charitbible trust to meet your philanthropic intentions and an irrevocable life insurance trust to replace the wealth for your family?
• Are you concerned about providing for a surviving spouse or children? Are you concerned with protecting family assets from sons - or daughters - in - laws, divorces, or step-children? Families looking to prevent wealth from corrupting family values and a way to ensure assets will be distributed, how and when desired can utilize trust planning. Finding and implementing creative solutions that truly consider those worries can be addressed through properly arranged trusts.
• Are you the trustee of a familymember's trust and wish to minimize family tensions in the role of money gatekeeper?
• Are you unhappy with the investments and/or service provided by your current trust administrator?

You may know that personal trusts are often used as part of a personalized estate plan, but do you know how personal trusts may help you?

It's a myth that personal trusts are only for wealthy individuals. While estate tax savings can be a significant benefit of personal trusts, more individuals create trusts for control, protection, privacy, gifting, and to simplify their finances.

Personal Trusts

Every estate plan begins by answering a simple question-who do I want to receive my assets? For most individuals, there are only four potential recipients: family, friends, charities, or the IRS. If you have a taxable estate and you fail to plan properly, your largest beneficiary could be the IRS.

For Reduced Estate Taxes

When you consider all of the assets that make up your taxable estate, you may realize that your estate is subject to tax.

One of the most commonly overlooked assets in your taxable estate is life insurance. Any life insurance that you own is part of your taxable estate-this includes life insurance from an employer, business and any personal life insurance. Other assets that may be overlooked or undervalued are highly appreciated real estate, stock options, partnership interests and qualified plan assets.

For Control

Personal trusts allow you to control income from the trust and ultimately the distribution of the assets according to your wishes.

You decide who should receive the income, how much, and when the payments should be made. You can even link distributions to certain "performance" events, such as graduating from college, establishing a career, starting a business, or getting married. The terms of your trust establish the ground rules for your legacy.

For Protection

A universal goal of estate planning is to have assets reach the intended beneficiaries. With good planning you can protect your assets from tax erosion, unnecessary probate expense and inappropriate investment influences. Personal trusts help keep more of your assets for your family and other beneficiaries.

Special Needs Trusts can be established to help provide ongoing financial support for a child with special medical, emotional, or other needs. Additionally, under certain circumstances, the trust assets may not reduce the amount of government benefits available to the child.

For Simplicity

Personal trusts can help you to simplify your financial life, organize your finances and tax information, get bills paid, maintain a permanent financial record and make things easier for family or friends when they step in to help you in times of need.

For Charitable Giving

Personal trusts can establish a charitable giving program that benefits you, your heirs and the qualified charity of your choice.

A Charitable Remainder Trust can be used to provide immediate or deferred income to you, you and your spouse, or anyone you choose.

Charitable Remainder Trusts work particularly well with highly appreciated assets and illiquid assets such as real estate. Assets contributed to Charitable Remainder Trusts are often sold by the trustee and re-invested in a diversified portfolio designed to provide income and growth. This may increase the income produced by the assets while reducing risk through diversification.

A "living trust" can be used to hold legal title to and provide a mechanism to manage your property. You can select the person or persons you want -- often even yourself -- as the Trustee(s) to carry out the instructions you want in the Trust. Unlike a Will, a Trust usually becomes effective immediately, continues in force during your lifetime even in the event of your incapacity, and continues after your death.

More information on TRUSTS can be found under the 'Resource' tab

For a comprehensive review of your personal situation, always consult with a tax or legal advisor.  Neither Cetera Advisors LLC nor any of its representatives may give legal or tax advice.