October 08, 2016
5 Reasons Why Your Family May Want A Castle Trust (Asset Protection Trust)
What Is a Castle Trust(tm)?
A Castle Trust(tm) is form of asset protection trust used to protect families from the devastating cost of long-term care and lawsuits. It is modern form of irrevocable trust that allows you to remain in control of your assets, allows you to change trustees and beneficiaries, and allows you to empty the trust at any time. So, the Castle Trust, gives maximum flexibility and maximum asset protection.
The Castle Trust is perfect for retirees who want to protect themselves from future long-term care costs. An added benefit of the Castle Trust is that it can also protect against remarriage and protect the children for their lifetime from creditors or divorce.
Many Michigan retirees and seniors are switching from a revocable living trust to the Castle Trust for the asset protection and flexibility.
Here is some more information on the Castle Trust, an asset protection trust:
- What Your Financial Planner Needs to Know About the Castle Asset Protection Trust
- Michigan Asset Protection Planning with Castle Trusts
- Asset Protection Strategies in Michigan
Here is a short video explaining the Castle Trust
How can a Castle Trust Protect Me?
Many of our Michigan clients are concerned about protecting against long-term care costs, probate, the IRS and divorce and law suits. With the modern asset protection trust, the Castle Trust, you can accomplish all of this. Things that the basic revocable living trust cannot protect against.
Here are some of the reasons many Michigan retirees and seniors are looking to the modern asset protection trust, the Castle Trust:
Reason #1: Avoid Probate
With the Castle Trust, just like a revocable living trust, you can avoid probate in Michigan. Most people want to avoid probate for many reasons. First of all, probate is time consuming. By statute in Michigan probate must take at least five months and typically takes over a year. Second, probate is costly, the average cost associated with going through probate can easily exceed 3% of all the assets going through probate which could mean thousands and thousands of dollars.
Reason #2: Protect against Remarriage
Many Michigan families want to ensure that if they pass away, the surviving spouse can’t take the money and use it for a new spouse, thereby disinheriting the children, whether on purpose or by accident. The Castle Trust can protect against the remarriage issue, if a family wants that protection. This type of protection is very important is second marriage situations to make sure that assets go where they are supposed to go.
Reason #3: Protect Your Children from Divorce and Creditors
Most trusts say outright distributions at a certain age for children. That’s great for protecting them against their own poor financial choices as they mature, however it does nothing to protect them from the outside environment. What happens if the children get a divorce or in a car accident and are sued. The assets you worked so hard for could be lost.
Not so with a Castle Trust, which is a form of Michigan asset protection trust. The assets that you leave to your children and beneficiaries could be protected for your children and beneficiaries lifetime from divorce, lawsuits, creditors, bankruptcy, etc.
Why just launch pillow cases of money at your children that could be lost, when instead, you can leave it to them in a way that is protected for their lifetime from creditors and divorce?
Reason #4: Protect Yourself from Lawsuits
Revocable trusts do not protect you against lawsuits. Many people think if their assets are in a revocable trust, they are protected from lawsuits. That is not the case. Castle Trusts on the other hand do protect you from lawsuits. For example, if you were to get in a car accident and sued. The assets you have inside of a Castle Trust (Michigan Asset Protection Trust) would be protected and could not be reached by creditors. Very different than a revocable living trust, where all the assets would be available.
Reason #5 Protect Yourself from Long-term Care Costs
The biggest reason most Michigan families go the route of the Castle Trust is because they want to protect against long-term care costs. The Castle Trust can protect against the devastating cost of long-term care by helping Michigan families qualify for Michigan Medicaid. The way it works is that by moving assets into the Castle Trust, the assets inside the Castle Trust are protected from nursing home or Medicaid spend-down if the family can make it five years without needing nursing home care.
Does A Castle Trust Make Sense For Me?
You may be asking if a Castle Trust makes sense in your situation. The best way to find out would be to attend one of our upcoming Clarity Builder workshops. To register for one of our upcoming workshops, just click the link below and you can register for one of our free, fast paced, informative workshops that occur all over South-East Michigan. We have offices in Brighton, Livonia, Novi and Bloomfield Hills.