Plain and Simple: Bright Business Insights Winter 2019 | Page 11

will is present, probate is court-supervised process of gathering and distributing a person’s assets after death. Those who set up a trust, however, can avoid this process. At its core, probate is a way to boil your assets down to dollars and cents to ensure that your creditors are paid before distributing your estate to your beneficiaries. The entire process can be time-consuming and, depending on the state, can be a costly exercise. On the other hand, when you set up a trust, you effectively establish a legal means by which you can bypass probate and quickly move your assets on to their intended beneficiaries. Moreover, when guarded by a trust, your estate is also protected from any creditors or lawsuits that may be burdening your beneficiaries. With a trust, you and you alone get to determine how your estate will be used long after your death. This level of control allows you to provide ongoing support for minor children, dependents with special needs or family members who are incapacitated. It can also help you maintain a lasting philanthropic legacy in your community or even make future plans that will ease financial burdens on your family or church for many years to come. Moreover, your wishes can be carried reigns. To this end, your business’s operating agreement will help to out more efficiently – without having to navigate the hurdles of the ensure that the day-to-day tasks are covered. For ongoing maintenance court system. For example, those who try to make decisions on behalf and decision-making authority, an established trust will allow you to of someone who is incapacitated or a member of the family with determine leadership authority until your children or other successors special needs, per the request of your will or through the establishment are ready to take part in the business. Finally, a will actually assists of legal guardianship, are likely to be held up by the fact that all you with the distribution of your assets while ensuring that nothing financial decisions are required to flow through probate. With a trust, is overlooked. on the other hand, your ability to name a trustee effectively allows your trustee to bypass the court process, which results in a streamlined decision-making process. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of setting up a trust, give me a call. I would be happy to review your unique situation to help you find out if this option makes sense for you. Finally, and we really can’t overstate this point enough (especially if your assets total more than $11.2 million or $22.4 million for married couples), the estate and gift tax benefits associated with establishing a trust are huge. Estate taxes can take a large bite out of the wealth you’ve worked so hard to accumulate. But with a trust and a little planning, you can effectively reduce this tax bill. Business Continuity You Can Trust Business owners, in particular, have more than a few reasons to consider the addition of a trust. In addition to the points outlined above, a trust (when used along with an operating agreement and will) can provide you with the privacy, security and continuity you can depend on to maintain a strong and successful multi-generational business. As a business owner, your ultimate goal is to ensure that your business continues to run regardless of whether you’re at the by: David Shallenberger, CPA Senior Manager 545 North Market Street Wooster, OH 44691 234.249.3455 [email protected]