Income for Life Trust vs Dynasty Trust
This edition of the Koldin Law Center E-Newsletter is part of a series about frequently asked questions comparing legal documents, legal roles, and government benefits.
All prior newsletters are saved on our website. You can read them by clicking here.
We receive many questions from clients and readers of our newsletter asking about the differences between various legal documents, legal roles, and government benefits. In this newsletter we compare an Income for Life Trust to a Dynasty Trust.
Income for Life Trust
In the previous newsletter we reviewed how you can leave assets in a Trust where the beneficiary would receive all of the income earned on Trust assets, but the principal would remain in the Trust.
Upon the death of the beneficiary, the balance would then go to whomever you have designated.
This type of Trust is typically set up for one person’s life and then the Trust ends and the remaining balance is distributed to your designed beneficiaries.
For example, you could set up a Trust for your spouse to receive income for life and then the remaining balance on your spouse’s death would go to your children.
Once your children inherit from this Income for Life Trust, they are free to do whatever they wish with the inherited assets. They can spend it all. They can save some and leave it to their spouse in their Wills.
Maybe it is your desire that some of your life savings be passed on to your grandchildren.
Dynasty Trust
One method to ensure that some or all of your life savings passes on to your grandchildren is to leave your children’s inheritance from your estate, from your life insurance and/or from your retirement accounts in a “Dynasty Trust.”
Under this type of Trust, the inheritance left to your children is available for them to use and enjoy, but on their deaths, the remaining balance would be left under the terms of the Trust to whomever you designate, such as to your grandchildren.
The terms of the Dynasty Trust dictate if there are any restrictions on how your children can use the Trust funds.
The Dynasty Trust is a way to preserve your wealth across generations.
For more information about Beneficiary Trusts, please see our website by clicking here.
At the Koldin Law Center, P.C., located in East Syracuse, New York, we have over 50 years of experience helping individuals plan for immediate crisis and long term care.
The Koldin Law Center, P.C. limits its practice to the specific field of Elder Law which includes estate planning and Medicaid law.
Our attorneys are available to discuss your estate planning options, including the advantages and disadvantages of Revocable Trusts and Irrevocable Trusts, along with other estate planning considerations including a Will, Power of Attorney, and Health Care Proxy.
When the Koldin Law Center, P.C. handles a Medicaid case, we not only handle the entire application process, but we also review asset protection options with our clients. We review with our clients who are already in a Nursing Home options to protect some or all of their assets beyond merely establishing Medicaid eligibility.
We do not charge a fee for the initial consultation. We welcome your children, family attorney, accountant, and/or financial planner to be present at the initial consultation.
There is something you can do.
Our Attorneys are available to speak to your organization
Our Attorneys speak to groups throughout New York State as a public service. If you would like to arrange for one of our Attorneys to speak to your group, please contact our office.
We appreciate your referrals
We have been told by many clients who are in a crisis that they wish they had known about our firm much sooner. We are proud of the many families we have helped in times of crisis.
We are also proud of the many families we helped avoid financial crisis by doing estate planning in advance.
We all share the responsibility for making our family and friends aware of the planning options available to them.
Your referral to the Koldin Law Center could make a major difference in the lives of your family and friends if they are someday faced with a long term illness.
Remember that the Koldin Law Center offers many services for clients of all ages. Our services range from basic estate planning such as a simple will to complex estate planning including asset preservation planning.
THERE IS NO FEE FOR THE INITIAL CONSULTATION
