One Effective Way To Protect Your Real Estate Assets

If you own real estate, chances are you have purchased insurance to protect your assets against damage or loss. But have you taken the necessary steps to protect your assets against probate?

While it may be heartbreaking to think about, there is always a chance your death could trigger a family feud over your home, vacation home or other real estate investments.

One common estate planning tools for real estate asset protection includes trusts:

TRUSTS

If you own vacation home property that you do not rent out on a regular basis, then a trust may be a better choice for you. There are several options: a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QRPT) is an irrevocable trust (meaning it cannot be changed without the consent of the beneficiaries) that allows an owner to use the property for a fixed term, and then pass the property on to heirs. This is a commonly used structure to reduce the size of your estate for estate tax purposes.

A revocable trust (which can be changed without consent of the beneficiaries) is more flexible and, if you choose a dynasty trust, can last for multiple generations. The major benefit of the revocable trust, besides control of what happens to the assets after the death of the grantors, is that it keeps your assets out of the hands of the Court after your death, and totally within the control of your family.

We can help you decide on the best course of action for your individual circumstances.