You Can Bank on This: Taking Time to Plan is Time Well Spent

In my prior career I worked as a manager at World Savings Bank in Mesa, Arizona. To this day I can remember the first time a client approached me and said, “I’d like to open an account in the name of my trust.” I was so new to the job that I had no idea what the client was talking about! I quickly learned a great deal about trusts and I recognized their importance in the lives of several of my clients at the bank.

A trust is a written agreement between a trustor (the creator of the trust) and a trustee (the manager of the trust). There are several purposes for a trust, and one main purpose is to benefit a beneficiary or group of beneficiaries of the trust. The trustor grants to the trustee certain assets and once those assets are owned by the trust, the trustee manages those assets for the benefit of the trustor’s beneficiaries. For many of our New Mexico and Arizona clients, they fulfill all three capacities (trustor, trustee, and beneficiary) while they are alive and healthy.

While working at the bank, I soon loved to open bank account for my clients in the name of their trusts because I recognized what it meant:

· There would be a streamlined and private process of distributing assets upon their passing

· Most of the time the children of the clients already knew how the estate was to be handled at their parents’ death or incapacity

· There were not any family feuds in the bank lobby over who should get what or who should be allowed entrance to the parents’ safe deposit box

· If the client became disabled or incapacitated there was already someone in line to help manage the client’s estate

There is a stark difference between those who take the time to plan and those who leave their estate to happenstance. When I left the bank for law school, I made up my mind that I was going to help my future clients take the time to plan. Please call our firm to arrange a time to get your planning done today – there is no time like the present!

Why use Morris Hall…

You have a number of options when it comes to estate planning, so why pick Morris Hall? First off, estate planning and asset protection are a very complicated endeavor and you should only trust someone who focuses exclusively on those matters. Also, MH is a proud member of The American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys (AAEPA) which provides us additional support, advanced training, tools and information that is not available to others – which means that we can better protect your assets and your loved ones. We are one of only two firms in Arizona that belong to the AAEPA and are the only firm in New Mexico that has been granted membership. If you have assets and loved ones that you want to protect, you are in good hands with MH. Contact us today at 888.222.1328 to schedule an appointment!

 

This blog should be used for informational purposes only. It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney in your community who can assess the specifics of your situation.