Barcelona & Pilarski, P.A.
Attorneys at Law

Vanessa S. Barcelona                John L. Pilarski

6300 Corporate Court
Suite 103
Fort Myers, Florida 33919
239.590.9864
800.664.0162
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Estate Planning with Trusts

Trusts are ancient and varied.  They are also extremely flexible instruments that
make them an estate planner’s best friend.  There are many kinds:


Revocable Trust:  This type of trust is also often referred to as a Living Trust by
many.  I find the term Living Trust confusing and don’t like to use it.  At any rate,
this is the most common type of estate planning trust and the type you are likely
seeking if your accountant or financial planner recommended to you that you “get
a trust”.

•        You can serve as Trustee of your own revocable trust during your life, but you
don’t have to.  Once the trust is established and funded, you manage your affairs
much as you always did.  There are few if any tax ramifications during your life
with a revocable trust.
•        You can revoke or change the trust’s terms as long as you are alive and know
what you are doing.
•        If you become incapacitated, the successor trustee you chose can step in and
manage your property for your benefit with minimal disruption.
•        Assets held as part of your trust at the time of your death do not pass
through probate.  This can save money and time and is a more private manner of
settling your affairs.
•        You can plan your gifts in the trust to minimize or eliminate estate taxes.
•        You can specifically detail who gets what, how they get it and when they get it
even after you are gone.  For example, you can use a portion of your property to
provide for your second wife for her life and have the property then pass to your
children or grandchildren from your first marriage.  Another example, you can
leave a gift to your grandchildren that your trustee will only spend on college
expenses.  There are many possibilities.
Revocable trusts are the backbone of most modern estate plans.

Irrevocable Insurance Trusts or ILITS

You think that your estate won’t get hit with estate taxes?  Did you count the $1
million life insurance benefits?  You should.  How would you like to pass that
million to your family free of estate taxes?  How would you like to pay the
premiums with gifts that are not subject to the estate or gift tax?  ILITs let you do
all of these things.

Selfish Giving:  Charitable Trusts

Would you like a big fat deduction on this year’s income taxes?  Would you like to
turn that low basis stock into a steady income stream without taking the capital
gains hit?  What if you could benefit a charity of your choice at the same time?  
And wouldn’t be great to still leave it all to your family?  Amazing benefits to the
donor and charity are available with Charitable Remainder and Charitable Lead
Trusts.

There are numerous other planning possibilities with Trusts…