An irrevocable trust offers many benefits to our clients for businesses, tax planning, and estate planning. Like the revocable trust, an irrevocable trust can be used to avoid probate. All trusts, if properly designed and used, can avoid probate and permit a trustee, the person that manages the trust, to administer the trust assets more quickly and efficiently than the probate process.  

The main benefit of the Florida irrevocable trust, specifically, is the ability to help a settlor protect their assets for future generations. Some Florida irrevocable trusts, for example, are designed to avoid costly estate and gift taxes. Other irrevocable trusts help make some of your assets exempt from Medicaid in Florida, if a transfer to the irrevocable trust is made before the Medicaid "look back" period.  For those looking to reduce estate tax, an irrevocable trust can be designed so that the grantor or settlor can be relieved of any income tax liability from the income generated by the assets and can avoid estate taxes. 

An irrevocable trust also offers good asset protection in two key ways. First, an irrevocable trust can be designed to be a discretionary trust. This means the trustee only distributes trust assets at his or her discretion. While this might seem odd at first, you must remember that a trustee must act in the best interest of the beneficiary. This means a trustee will only distribute trust income or principal when he or she feels its in the beneficiaries best interest.   This can provide protection for the assets you set aside while also providing for your beneficiaries.

As with many tools in estate planning, irrevocable trusts are just one small part of the bigger picture.  Send our office a message today and set up a time to discuss your circumstances with us further.