We are interested in an irrevocable trust. I am confused as to who the trustee can be. I am married and still work, my wife is retired. I went to see a lawyer about a irrevocable trust today and though of some more questions that I have.
Some background: We have a house worth about $200,000 and a good amount of savings. We desire to shield our assets from creditors, possible eligibility for medicaid and legal judgment. I am especially concerned about Medicaid so that my spouse does not lose all the money we've saved should I need to be in a nursing home. The other things, judgement and creditors are less of a concern. We plan to put our house and most of the cash into the trust. I don't have much of anything else of value to put into it. I live in Arkansas.
The lawyer we went to see says we can be our own trustees. All I see online is that we cannot, or at least should not be. The lawyer I went said that's the way it's been allowed since 2018. Is this right?
I am also confused about how to get any of the money OUT of the trust if we need it. One of my main concerns is in the event I lose my job and have no income. The reason I saved all that money is to have it on hand, and available without taxes or penalties. Or, in another possibility we need something, like a new roof or furnace and don't have enough of our OWN money in the bank for it. I have a 401k but can't take money out ( I think since the Covid19 stuff I could ) without penalty yet. It will not be part of the trust.
How do we get assets OUT of the trust to use to take care of our needs? The lawyer sad we can transfer them back. But there has to be some other catch to this. Like taxes? Is it just counted on our $10.2 million exclusion?
TIA.
Submitted September 04, 2020 at 08:55PM by Rootman https://ift.tt/2EZwlpg
