Sip on This: How Trusts Can Protect Your Assets

Hey everyone,

Are you confused about trusts and how they can be used to protect your assets and qualify for benefits? In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Greg McIntyre, an elder law attorney who uses a coffee cup to explain the concept of trusts.

Greg starts by showing a revocable living trust, which allows the trust creator to place assets within it and still be in control of the trust. He then explains a protective trust, which allows the trust creator to protect their assets and still be the lifetime income beneficiary. He also talks about an irrevocable trust, which is like a safe that locks and requires a trustee to manage the assets.

But what if you want the best of both worlds? Greg explains how a convertible trust can be used to switch from a revocable living trust to an irrevocable trust when needed.

Throughout the episode, Greg emphasizes the importance of estate planning and how McIntyre Elder Law can help you with your estate planning needs. He even offers a free consultation for those interested.

As Greg says, "It's not about how much money you have, it's about how much you keep." So, if you want to learn more about trusts and how they can help you protect your assets, tune in to this episode.

Thanks for listening!

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Schedule your FREE consult today by calling: 1-888-999-6600 or online at: mcelderlaw.com

#estateplanning #elderlaw #trusts #assetprotection 

Transcript

**Speaker 0** (00:00:00) - Please don't wait till it's too late. Cup McIntyre Elder Law.



**Speaker 1** (00:00:09) - Hi, I'm Greg McIntyre with McIntyre Elder Law and I wanted to explain a trust using a coffee cup or my coffee thermos that I brought today. People all the time are like, Hey Greg, what is a trust? I'm not sure what that is. Um, what does it do? How does it work? And I'm gonna show you using this concept, okay? This is a revocable living trust. I'm gonna take the top off a revocable living trust would allow me to place in a home. Any other real estate bank accounts, investment accounts within it, the lids off, I can take it out of it. I am in control of it. I am holding it. It is mine. Okay? It's a revocable living trustee. If I'm married, it could be my wife's and mine. And we're both cot trustees. The trustee is the per person who is in charge of assets in a trust.

**Speaker 1** (00:01:04) - I'm going to show you a protective trust where I can still be the lifetime income beneficiary, but protect my assets maybe as I age and have that be treated as a separate asset from me. So I might be eligible for benefits to pay for long-term care. Let's say I place my house in an irrevocable trust. Let's say a specialized trust that we draft caught a Medicaid asset protection trust. It's like a safe that locks. So I'm gonna put the top on, okay? But I'm not the trustee. That's the key because the government would think, Hey, the tops off, he can take it out of it. You know, he can put it into it. Um, any assets, therefore we're gonna treat it like it's his. So irrevocable trust works this way, Taylor. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, will you be my trustee? All right. I never you hold it.

**Speaker 1** (00:01:56) - Okay. Thank you. So Taylor is my trustee. Okay? This is an irrevocable trust, but you know what? You have a legal fiduciary duty that is built into that trust. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, okay? Mm-hmm <affirmative> to maintain that resonance that I placed in there, maybe I replaced the, I I placed some investment accounts in there. You need to maintain those from me and responsibly manage those for my use and benefit for the rest of my life, okay? Okay. And there's an outlet out of this trust, an income stream to me as a lifetime income beneficiary. So any income interest, those investments make rents off any rental properties I have in that trust. You're going to give that to me every year so that tax, you know, income passes through to me and doesn't build up in the trust. Okay? Okay. But then, you know what, what? As I age, I might have to go to a nursing home or assisted living facility.

**Speaker 1** (00:02:53) - I don't want to go, but I might. So therefore at that point you have the ability, your hands on the faucet of flow of income. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right? No, don't unlock it cuz it can't unlock, right? It's irrevocable. Okay? You can't tinker with it, amend it, neither can I, you're just the trustee, okay? So if I go into care and I want to activate a benefit that my tax dollars paid for, then you can cut off that income stream to me at that time. So that's not included in money. I would have to pay over and it'll build up in the trust and build what's in that trust, okay? Okay. And then there are death beneficiaries on that trust that are gonna give everything to say my children if I were to pass away. And that's the difference. In a clear example of the difference between a revocable living trust, which is AVO avoids probate can help with taxation when I pass away for my heirs and I'm in control of okay?

**Speaker 1** (00:03:53) - And an irrevocable trust that really helps protect assets and qualify me for benefits while allowing me to still draw income. Okay? Okay. So that's the difference. And I wanted to show you now the best of both worlds would be this. To wrap it up, a convertible trust. Okay? So may I have it back? You sure can. Starts off this way, it's revocable. I'm in charge of it. Can put anything in in it, take everything out of it because I'm not ready to lose control. But then at any point that I sense danger with my or my spouse's healthcare and long-term care needs, I'm gonna make it irrevocable. You're now my trustee and I can qualify for those benefits and my assets are protected. Okay? Yep. The convertible trust is the best of both worlds combined and we have a lot of clients that enjoy that as well. Hey, I'm Greg McIntyre at McIntyre elra. I'd offer a free consult to talk about you and your family's estate planning needs and any other questions you might have on will's, trust and estates. You can call 1 8 8 8 9 9 9 6600 to schedule that or schedule online@mcelderlaw.com.

**Speaker 0** (00:05:15) - Life is busy. We all know we put off planning until things get slow. Tomorrow's never promise today, don't get too busy. Let it off little. Please don't wait till it's too late. Call back and tiger el. Additional planning or more complex, we can help when your perplex, if a loved one needs long-term care, we can help avoid some of the scare. Please don't wait till it's too late. Come back in. Elder ball, state planning benefits and Eva probate, we take the planning piece of your plane. If you were your spouse, were in the military, we can help benefits for your family. Please don't wait till it's too late. Come back. Elder, please don't wait. Till's too late.