Archive for May, 2010

It was a matter of seconds. At birth, the fetus did not get enough oxygen in her brain. Eli was born perfectly normal physically, but with serious learning and motor impediments. When she turned three, it was obvious to everyone. Eli was put under psychiatric treatment and prescribed some heavy medications to control her severe hyperactivity, attention deficit and erratic behavior.

The medications were effective partially taking care of some of her symptoms, but their side effects were devastating. Eli lost all her body hair, including her eyelids and eyebrows.   And even when she became able to socialize up to a certain degree, Eli would never be able to advance much in academics or to hold a job, get married or raise a family. In other words, Eli was a “special child”. She lived in a special world. Eli would always need close assistance and medical care. Some of her medications were quite expensive.

Knowing this, Tom, Eli’s father, a successful entrepreneur, became deeply concern about Eli’s future. He was especially concern about Eli’s welfare in times when he wouldn’t be around to provide for her. Who would pay for Eli’s home care and medical needs once he’d leave this existence?  He decided to consult his attorney.

The attorney suggested creating a trust on Eli’s behalf. He would draft a legal document establishing an agreement between three persons to take care of all of Eli’s future financial needs. This it how he explained it to Tom:

Tom would the “trustor”, the owner and founder of the trust. Tom would deposit an initial amount of money in a trust bank account. That account would be in the name and managed by an administrator. Legally this person is called the “Trustee”. The trustee would be in charged of issuing all monthly payments related to Eli’s medical and home care.   The trustee would also keeping record and prepare reports of all financial transactions related to the trust fund. Eli’s financial needs included shelter, food, clothing, medications, entertainment and someone to watch her. The trustee would make sure these service providers would get regularly paid to avoid any interruption of their services. Eli of course, would be the “beneficiary”, the person on whose benefit the trust was formed. Tom would be able to transfer money to the trust bank account as needed. This is called a “special needs trust”. This is one type of “inter vivos” trust, meaning that it works during the trustor’s lifetime.

Eli’s dad would have to create a “testamentary” kind of trust as well, the attorney suggested. This kind of trust becomes effective only at the time of one’s death. This trust would be created in Tom’s Last Will. Some of Tom’s estate property would be destined to fund Eli’s trust fund.

Eli’s mom, Theresa, was enormously pleased when Tom got home from consulting his attorney and told her the news. The couple could now stop worrying and dedicate their lives to nurture and enjoy Eli’s company, instead. Once away, they both would be able to rest in peace knowing that Eli would be provided for everything she would ever need, even in their absence.

There are several other considerations to take into account when forming a Trust. You might want to designate a family member as trustee or you might want to hire an accountant. In the later case you would have to provide in the document how much is this person going to be paid for his or her services. You can do all sort of different things when creating a trust and there are trusts for every particular need. The greatest advantage of forming a trust like Eli’s is that the property you pass unto it is exempted from estate taxes. Also, the property transferred to a testamentary trust does not go into probate court, becoming accessible to the beneficiary regardless of every other consideration. Trusts are a great ways to save money and to secure some one else’s –less fortunate- future.

This article intends only to demonstrate one of the many ways a trust can take care of one family’s concern. To create a trust, you might want to get some professional assistance.   Here, at legendarywillsandtrusts. com we provide a variety of on-line services for you to create your own legal trust forms. All our forms are expertly designed to oversee the many possibilities of each individual’s particular case. We have incorporated many years of academic preparation and professional experience to bring this assistance to you. You now have total and complete access to these great products at an affordable cost. Don’t wait until is too late. Take care of your loved ones now and download our Legendary Wills and Trust CD-Rom.   You will be eternally grateful and your loved ones too.