Trusts & Wills

Planning for the future can be an emotional time, but it’s crucial to have a strategy and the proper documentation to ensure you, your family, and your assets are protected. Your final wishes may be difficult to face, but the Law Office of Curtis J. Butcher in Carmel, Indiana provides the compassionate services you need to make these tough decisions.

What a will does for you

Wills are drafted documents that outline your final wishes and name an executor to carry out the terms of your will. This includes designating who receives your property and designates guardians for your minor children should you be incapacitated or die. It also allows you to set up a trust for your property upon your death.

Indiana state law dictates that people who die without wills will have their property and assets distributed to their closest relatives, beginning with their spouse and children. If the state cannot find a living relative to receive their assets and property, it will be absorbed by the State of Indiana.

What a living trust does for you

A trust designates a property to be held by a trustee until it is to be distributed to a beneficiary. It does allow for you to be the living trustee over your own property. Having a living trust can help your family avoid an extensive probate process.

Asset protection living trusts insulate your assets from being counted by state Medicaid agencies. Other benefits of this type of estate planning includes:

• The right to receive all of the trust income
  
• The right to use your real estate
  
• The right to change trustees and beneficiaries
  
• The right to be the trustee
  

An asset protection living trust, or an irrevocable trust, offers greater security for the property you own now. It shields your assets against lawsuits, car crashes, creditor attacks, medical expenses, and elder care costs.