If you are thinking about creating a living trust, this is an excellent tool in Massachusetts for allowing you to move assets inside a trust that can then be accessed or used by you during your lifetime. This provides great flexibility, but it’s important that the trust be created well and funded properly so that you can maximize your benefits.
A living trust requires a few different steps in order for it to be valid and to function the way you need. Each of these should be considered as you plan to create a living trust and you’ll want to discuss with your lawyer what pieces of this they can help with as opposed to those you’d need to take the lead on.
These tasks include:
- Listing the assets you plan to put inside the trust
- Putting together the necessary paperwork you’ll need
- Identifying who will be named as the beneficiaries of these assets
- Identify a successor trustee who can take over when you pass away for the purposes of managing the trust assets
- Draft the trust documents and give them a name with the help of your MA trust lawyer
- Sign the trust and record necessary documents
- Transfer property into the trust using titles and beneficiary designations
If you have questions about setting up a trust and need the support of an attorney to help you understand how this works in MA, set up a time to speak with our law firm about your options.
