Florida Probate Litigation: What is a Marital Trust?
Pankauski’s Probate Litigation Guide: Top 10 Probate Mistakes Revealed, attorney John Pankauski’s second book, dedicates a chapter to marital trusts. This book will be available in early 2017. What is a marital trust? What do probate litigation lawyers in Florida need to know about them? Are marital trusts necessary? When would a West Palm Beach estate planning lawyer suggest a marital trust?
Marital Trusts and Florida Trust and Estates Litigation
- What is a marital trust?
- Probate lawyers know that a marital trust is a trust which is typically created for the benefit of a surviving spouse and other family members.
- For example, the typical marital trust may provide for all the income to be distributed to the surviving spouse during his or her lifetime.
- Once the spouse dies, the trust remainder( if there is anything left) may go to the trust creator’s children, heirs or other beneficiaries.
- According to Mr. Pankauski, ” Years ago, when the amount of money that one could leave free of the US estate tax was significantly smaller, marital trusts were much more important.”
- Married couples who planned their estates together could avoid paying estate tax after the first spouse died by creating a certain ype of marital trust.
- Today, each person can leave $5.4 million tax free.
- Therefore, marital trusts aren’t as necessary as the tax doesn’t really affect anyone except for the very wealthy.
- An estate planning attorney may suggest, these days, that each spouse create their own separate trust.
- To receive a FREE copy of Pankauski’s Probate Litigation Guide, email Amanda@phflorida.com.