Trusts are perfect for protecting assets and ensuring they are used in a manner consistent with your wishes, even beyond the scope of your lifetime. This is one of the many reasons that you may find it prudent to put your business interests into an Idaho trust.
At Generations Law Group, Boise-based business attorney Tom Walker has years of experience with Idaho trusts and can help guide you through the process of protecting your business assets with a carefully-crafted trust.
Benefits of a Trust for your Idaho Business
A trust is a legal arrangement that puts one person or group of people, the trustee(s), in charge of holding and managing the assets of the trust.
The trust can offer a business entity several benefits, including:
- Asset Protection – Trusts can help safeguard your business assets from legal action and creditors.
- Estate Planning – Trusts can help reduce or even eliminate estate taxes, giving your beneficiaries a chance at getting the maximum value from your assets.
- Privacy – Trusts are not subject to public records, unlike a will, which can be critical to maintaining a degree of privacy.
- Control – With a trust, you can more easily control the distribution of assets, as well as set very specific conditions that govern the distribution and even use of the assets.
Types of Trusts for Business Interests
There are many types of trusts, but only a few are ideal for business use. Working with a dedicated Idaho business attorney is the best way to determine which type of trust is best for your specific business and personal needs.
Let’s look at the four types of trusts most commonly used for Idaho businesses.
- Revocable Living Trust: A revocable living trust allows you to maintain complete control over your business assets during your lifetime, and it can be changed or revoked at any time for any reason.
- Irrevocable Trust: These types of trusts offer a greater degree of protection for the business’s assets, as well as more significant tax benefits. The caveat is that this type of trust cannot be changed or revoked once they have been established.
- Dynasty Trust: A dynasty trust is designed specifically to hold and transfer assets across generations, without dealing with estate taxes.
- Charitable Trust: Charitable trusts allow you a way to make charitable donations while also benefiting your business and your heirs.
How to Create a Trust for Your Idaho Business
While the process for creating a trust for your Idaho business may seem simple, there are some complexities and nuances to the process that can make or break the effectiveness of the trust.
The general steps to create an Idaho business trust are:
- Choosing the type of trust that is best for your business needs.
- Selecting a trustee to appoint, who will be the person or entity responsible for the management of the trust’s assets.
- Drafting the trust document – which should be done by an experienced attorney – which will outline the terms and conditions under which the trust will operate.
- Assets are then transferred to the trust, and retitled as needed.
The final trust document is signed and notarized so that it is now legally binding.
Get Started With Generations Law Group Today
For those who have built a business, one of the major steps in planning for your future and protecting those assets is to work with an experienced Idaho business firm like Generations Law Group. We can help guide you through every aspect of trust formation. Reach out today to get started.
