Phoenix Will and Trust Common Questions

As we build our families and build our wealth, the stakes about the future get higher and higher. When you have a combination of assets to lose and loved ones you want taken care of in the event of your death, you are going to have to do some planning to make sure things go as they should.

Who is Involved in Phoenix Will & Trust Estate Planning?
Trustor

The trustor is the party who establishes the will or trust.

Trustee

A trustee is the party who is in charge of the accounts and making sure your wishes are carried out as planned.

Beneficiary or Beneficiaries

The beneficiary or beneficiaries are the parties who inherit your assets.

What Happens When You Don’t Plan?

This is a big problem that many Phoenix families of the deceased have to deal with in this country. If you fail to properly plan ahead of time, you are forcing your loved ones left behind to deal with it for you – and they will not have it as easy as you would have if you did it in advance. When assets are left up in the air when someone dies, their estate is processed by the probate court. The court will then decide who gets what.

Not many people are comfortable with the idea of living their assets and money they spent their whole life working for up to the decision of a judge. The immediate downside to leaving it up to the court system is that your family will owe legal fees and spend a lot more time in court waiting than you might expect. Do you owe Phoenix creditors or towards a settlement? Then you can count on them getting your family’s money when you die if you have not planned correctly.

Should I Use a Trust or Will? Or Both?

A Phoenix will is designed to help you designate how your assets are divided up in the event of your death. Usually a will is fairly simple and doesn’t require any qualifications or contingencies for any parties. A trust is like taking the will a step further and not just planning how your assets are divided up and who they will go to, but also how they are used and distributed. When you set up a trust, you can call all the shots about how your assets or divided or just simply protect your money from collection agents. Trusts are often used when there are beneficiary child from a previous marriage, or multiple beneficiaries. People also designate trusts as beneficiaries when they want their money to spent on something specific life living expenses or education.

Need Help?

If you are not sure as to what legal document you currently have contact one of our professionals to help you with your estate planning. They will make sure you have all of your grounds covered and have the right legal documents that best suite your wants and needs.