A retirement plan trust can be a vital component of a thoughtful estate plan for residents of Strathmore and Tulare County. This page outlines how a retirement plan trust works, how it coordinates with other estate planning documents such as revocable living trusts and pour-over wills, and what to consider when preserving retirement assets for beneficiaries. We explain practical options for naming trusts as plan beneficiaries, addressing tax considerations, and ensuring that retirement accounts transfer smoothly in keeping with your overall estate plan and personal wishes in California law.
When selecting arrangements for retirement accounts, careful planning helps reduce administrative burden and protect beneficiary outcomes. A retirement plan trust can help manage distribution timing, provide for minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, and align retirement assets with legacy goals. This overview describes strategies used to coordinate beneficiary designations with trust documents, the benefits and potential limitations of using a trust for retirement accounts, and practical steps you can take now to preserve assets and direct distributions consistent with your family priorities and the legal framework governing retirement plans in California.
A retirement plan trust offers control over how retirement funds are distributed after your passing, which can be especially helpful when beneficiaries are young, have special needs, or when you want to stagger distributions to manage tax impact and financial responsibility. It can also help maintain privacy by avoiding probate for certain assets and clarifying trustee duties and payout provisions. For many families in Strathmore, these trusts serve as a way to coordinate beneficiary designations with other documents like pour-over wills and trust certifications, ensuring retirement assets support long-term financial and caregiving goals.
The Law Offices of Robert P. Bergman assist clients throughout Tulare County and beyond with practical, client-centered estate planning solutions. Our approach focuses on clear communication, careful drafting, and tailored plans that include revocable living trusts, retirement plan trust provisions, pour-over wills, and related documents such as financial powers of attorney and health care directives. We work with clients to design plans that reflect family dynamics and financial realities, coordinate beneficiary designations, and simplify administration for loved ones who will handle affairs after incapacity or death.
A retirement plan trust is a trust designed to receive distributions from retirement accounts, typically through beneficiary designation, to manage those funds on behalf of named beneficiaries. These trusts are drafted to comply with plan rules and tax requirements, and they often include provisions that specify distribution pacing, required minimum distribution handling, and trustee powers. Understanding the interaction between plan documents and trust language is essential to preserve tax benefits and avoid unintended immediate distributions. Thoughtful design preserves retirement assets while aligning them with broader estate planning goals.
Choosing to name a trust as the beneficiary of a retirement account changes how the funds will be handled and may affect tax treatment and payout timing. The trust must be structured to meet plan administrator rules for beneficiary trust status and to allow beneficiaries to take advantage of stretched distributions when applicable. Proper coordination between beneficiary designations and trust provisions reduces the risk of forced lump-sum distributions and ensures that funds serve their intended purpose, whether that is lifetime support, education funding, or long-term care provision for family members.
A retirement plan trust is a legal arrangement created to receive retirement plan assets upon the plan participant’s death and then hold and distribute those assets according to the trust’s terms. Its core purpose is to manage payouts for beneficiaries who may need oversight, protection, or structured income rather than immediate full access to funds. The trust can include instructions for payout scheduling, age-based distributions, or disability support, and it specifies trustee duties to ensure funds are used for designated purposes such as education, living expenses, or ongoing care for dependents.
Establishing a retirement plan trust involves drafting trust language that aligns with plan rules, naming the trust as beneficiary on the account, and confirming that the trust qualifies under plan administrator criteria. Key elements include trustee selection, distribution terms, provisions for required minimum distributions, and coordination with other estate planning documents like revocable living trusts and pour-over wills. A careful review of plan documents and beneficiary forms helps prevent conflicts between account beneficiary designations and the intent stated in trust documents, minimizing surprises for beneficiaries and administrators.
Understanding common terms used with retirement plan trusts helps you make informed decisions. This section provides concise definitions of concepts such as beneficiary designation, required minimum distribution, conduit trust, accumulation trust, pour-over will, and certification of trust. Familiarity with these terms clarifies how retirement plan trusts interact with tax rules and account documents. Clear terminology reduces the risk of drafting errors and supports more productive conversations when designing a trust to receive retirement assets and coordinate distributions for beneficiaries in California.
A beneficiary designation is the instruction you provide to a retirement plan or account administrator indicating who should receive the account assets upon your death. This designation generally takes precedence over beneficiary instructions in a will, so coordinating designations with trust documents is critical. When naming a trust as beneficiary, trustees must be identified and the trust must meet plan rules for treatment of inherited accounts. Regularly reviewing and updating beneficiary designations ensures that account distributions reflect current wishes and family circumstances.
Required minimum distribution rules determine minimum withdrawals from certain retirement accounts each year after a specified age. How an inherited retirement account is structured under a trust can change RMD timing and amounts for beneficiaries. Trust provisions must address RMDs to avoid unintended tax consequences or accelerated distributions. Careful planning ensures that the trust’s terms allow beneficiaries to take the distributions they are entitled to while preserving the intended protections and payout pacing outlined in the trust document.
A conduit trust requires the trustee to pass retirement plan distributions directly to beneficiaries, which can preserve certain tax benefits but offers less protection from beneficiary spending. An accumulation trust allows the trustee to retain distributions within the trust for managed distribution, which can protect funds but may alter tax outcomes. Choosing between these types depends on goals for control, protection, and tax implications. Drafting must align the trust type with retirement plan rules to preserve preferred distribution options for beneficiaries.
A pour-over will directs assets not already in a trust to be transferred into a named trust upon probate, while a certification of trust summarizes key trust information for third parties without revealing full trust terms. Both documents are commonly used alongside retirement plan trusts and revocable living trusts to streamline administration and protect privacy. Proper coordination among these documents facilitates transfer of assets and helps account administrators and financial institutions verify trust authority when managing retirement account beneficiary designations or executing distributions.
Choosing between naming individuals directly as beneficiaries and naming a trust depends on goals for control, protection, and tax treatment. Naming individuals often offers simplicity and direct access to funds, but may not provide safeguards for minors, individuals with disabilities, or beneficiaries who may need help managing money. Naming a trust offers tailored distribution terms and oversight but requires careful drafting to meet plan rules and preserve favorable tax treatment. Weighing simplicity against long-term protection helps determine the best path for retirement assets in your overall estate plan.
A straightforward beneficiary designation is often appropriate when beneficiaries are mature, financially secure adults who do not require oversight or staged distributions. Naming such beneficiaries directly can avoid trust administration and simplify account transfers, allowing beneficiaries to access funds without trustee involvement or additional paperwork. This approach reduces complexity and administrative costs while providing beneficiaries direct control of inherited retirement accounts. It remains important to review designations periodically to ensure they reflect current intentions and life changes such as marriage, divorce, or death.
For smaller retirement account balances, the costs and administrative effort of a trust may outweigh the benefits of controlled distributions. In such cases, direct beneficiary designations can provide faster access to funds and avoid trustee fees and trust administration. Simplicity often serves families who prioritize immediate access and minimal bureaucracy. However, even when opting for a limited approach, maintaining clear beneficiary designations and coordinating them with existing estate planning documents helps prevent conflicting instructions and ensures a smooth transfer when accounts are distributed after an account holder’s death.
A retirement plan trust is often advisable when beneficiaries may need protection from impulsive spending, creditor claims, or when they face special needs that require careful financial management. A trust can set conditions for distributions, provide long-term oversight, and coordinate with public benefits planning. It also helps manage tax timing and prevent beneficiaries from receiving large lump-sum distributions that could be financially disruptive. Drafting the trust to match family needs and legal constraints ensures retirement assets serve their intended purpose across different life stages.
When estate plans involve multiple trusts, business interests, or significant retirement assets, naming a retirement plan trust can help coordinate distribution timing, creditor protection, and legacy planning. Trust provisions can address required minimum distribution rules, beneficiary income requirements, and tax-sensitive transfer strategies to reduce burdens on heirs. For families with blended households or complex beneficiary situations, a well-structured trust clarifies intent and reduces potential disputes, allowing retirement accounts to be managed consistently with broader estate planning goals.
A comprehensive approach to retirement plan trusts ensures that retirement assets are coordinated with wills, revocable living trusts, and other planning documents to reflect long-term goals. That coordination reduces conflicts between beneficiary forms and trust provisions and helps preserve tax advantages where possible. Additionally, comprehensive planning addresses trustee powers, payout pacing, and contingencies such as divorce, remarriage, or changes in beneficiary circumstances. This holistic approach improves the likelihood that retirement funds will be used as intended over time and provides clarity for those who will administer your affairs.
Comprehensive planning also enhances family communication and reduces ambiguity during difficult times by setting clear instructions for retirement account distributions. By integrating retirement plan trusts with documents like pour-over wills, financial powers of attorney, and advance health care directives, the plan creates consistent mechanisms for asset transfer and decision-making in both incapacity and after death. The result is a smoother administration process, lower risk of disputes, and greater confidence that beneficiaries are protected and supported according to your objectives.
One primary benefit of using a retirement plan trust is the ability to control the timing and manner of distributions to beneficiaries. Trust provisions can require distributions at specific life stages, for certain purposes, or on a schedule that balances income needs with tax planning. This structure helps prevent sudden access to large sums that may lead to poor financial outcomes and supports long-term financial stability for beneficiaries. Tailoring these terms allows the trust to meet family goals for inheritance and ongoing support while aligning with retirement plan rules.
A retirement plan trust can provide an added layer of protection against creditor claims and beneficiary misuse by allowing the trustee to manage distributions and hold assets within the trust structure. While protections vary by situation and applicable law, trust arrangements can be drafted to limit direct beneficiary control and make distributions discretionary or conditional. This approach supports long-term preservation of retirement assets for intended purposes such as education, living expenses, medical needs, or care of family members who may require sustained financial support.
Periodically reviewing beneficiary designations ensures retirement accounts transfer according to current intentions and life changes. Update forms after major events such as marriage, divorce, birth, or death to prevent outdated designations from overriding trust or will provisions. Coordinate these forms with trust language so that naming a trust as beneficiary is effective and consistent with overall estate planning goals. Diligent reviews cut down on surprises, help avoid probate complications, and reinforce the intended distribution path for retirement assets.
Selecting the right trustee is a key decision when creating a retirement plan trust because the trustee will manage distributions and fulfill the trust’s purpose. Choose a person or institution with sound judgment and the willingness to follow the trust terms while communicating transparently with beneficiaries. Establishing successor trustees, decision-making protocols, and guidance for discretionary distributions helps maintain consistent administration. Thoughtful trustee selection supports stability and trustworthiness in carrying out retirement asset distributions over the long term.
Families and individuals choose retirement plan trusts for many reasons, including protecting assets for vulnerable beneficiaries, managing tax timing, and coordinating retirement accounts with broader estate plans. Trusts are useful when beneficiaries are minors, when there are concerns about creditor claims, or when orderly, staged distributions better serve long-term needs. Properly drafted trust provisions provide structure and clarity, reducing administrative uncertainty and ensuring retirement funds align with legacy goals and financial realities that affect families in Strathmore and throughout California.
Other reasons to consider a retirement plan trust include preserving privacy by reducing probate exposure, easing the administrative burden on successors, and creating a cohesive strategy that integrates retirement accounts with revocable living trusts, pour-over wills, and power of attorney documents. These trusts can also be tailored to respond to blended family dynamics, special needs, or charitable intentions. Thoughtful planning promotes smoother transitions of retirement assets and helps beneficiaries receive support according to the account holder’s structured wishes.
A retirement plan trust becomes particularly valuable in situations involving minor children, beneficiaries with disabilities or special needs, blended families, or where heirs may face creditor exposure. It also helps when an account holder seeks to manage taxes through distribution pacing or protect retirement assets from being used in ways that contradict the account holder’s intentions. These trusts are a tool to align retirement asset transfers with broader estate planning goals, providing protections and governance that direct beneficiary designations alone may not accomplish.
When beneficiaries are minors, a trust can hold and manage retirement account distributions until beneficiaries reach specified ages or milestones. This structure ensures funds are used for education, healthcare, or living expenses under trustee oversight, rather than being distributed outright to young beneficiaries who may lack financial maturity. Trust provisions can set distribution triggers and specify permissible uses, offering long-term protection while allowing trustees to adapt distributions to changing needs and circumstances over time.
Beneficiaries who have ongoing support requirements, medical needs, or issues that may put inherited funds at risk benefit from trust-based distributions that manage income and principal. A well-drafted trust can coordinate with public benefits, limit direct access to funds that could disqualify benefits, and provide structured support. Trustees can direct funds toward necessary expenses while maintaining overall protection, ensuring that retirement assets provide sustained support consistent with long-term caregiving and financial planning objectives.
For blended families or circumstances involving multiple generations and competing interests, a retirement plan trust clarifies distribution priorities and prevents unintended disinheritance. Trust provisions can allocate distributions among current spouses, children from prior marriages, and other beneficiaries according to the account holder’s detailed wishes. This approach reduces the potential for family disputes and ensures retirement funds are handled equitably and in accordance with the plan holder’s long-term intentions across diverse family structures.
If you live in or near Strathmore and are considering a retirement plan trust, help is available to review retirement accounts, coordinate beneficiary designations, and draft trust provisions that fit your goals. We can explain how different trust approaches interact with account rules and California law, helping you choose the structure that balances protection, tax considerations, and administrative ease. A focused review of your revocable living trust, pour-over will, and beneficiary forms provides clarity and a practical roadmap for preserving retirement assets for the people you care about.
The Law Offices of Robert P. Bergman provide personalized estate planning services to individuals and families in Tulare County, concentrating on clear, practical solutions for retirement account coordination and trust drafting. Our practice emphasizes careful document drafting, regular plan reviews, and accessible communication so clients understand how retirement plan trusts interact with other estate planning tools. We aim to create plans that balance protection, tax sensitivity, and administrative simplicity while honoring clients’ goals and family dynamics.
We assist with a wide range of estate planning documents commonly used alongside retirement plan trusts, including revocable living trusts, pour-over wills, financial powers of attorney, advance health care directives, and certification of trust. Our process includes reviewing account beneficiary forms, advising on trustee selection, and drafting trust provisions that align with plan rules. By coordinating all elements of an estate plan, we reduce the likelihood of conflicting instructions and provide a practical path to administer retirement assets consistent with your intentions.
Clients benefit from straightforward guidance about the trade-offs of different trust structures and from assistance implementing beneficiary designations and trust funding strategies. We provide ongoing plan maintenance recommendations to keep documents current with life changes and evolving laws. This sustained attention helps ensure retirement accounts remain aligned with your goals and that beneficiaries can access and manage inherited assets in a way that honors your wishes and supports their long-term wellbeing.
Our process begins with an information-gathering meeting to review retirement accounts, existing estate planning documents, and family circumstances. We assess beneficiary designations, plan rules, and tax considerations to recommend whether a retirement plan trust or alternate approach best meets your goals. Following that, we draft or revise trust language, coordinate beneficiary forms, prepare supporting documents such as certification of trust and pour-over wills, and provide guidance for trustee selection. We also offer follow-up reviews to keep plans current with life events and regulatory changes.
The initial review focuses on identifying retirement accounts, beneficiary designations, and related estate planning documents, alongside a discussion of your goals for distributions, beneficiary protection, and tax management. We explore family dynamics, timing preferences, and any special concerns such as minors or beneficiaries with support needs. This step produces a clear plan for how retirement assets should be handled, whether naming a trust is recommended, and what type of trust provisions will accomplish your objectives while remaining compatible with account rules.
We collect details about retirement plan types, account values, and current beneficiary designations, and we review any existing trust documents like revocable living trusts and pour-over wills. This information allows us to spot conflicts, tax issues, or administrative hurdles that could affect distribution outcomes. Accurate, up-to-date records ensure that any trust drafted to receive retirement assets is consistent with plan administrator requirements and with the broader estate plan, reducing the risk of unintended immediate payouts or loss of tax advantages.
During goal setting we clarify whether you prefer immediate distributions, staged payouts, or trustee-managed support for beneficiaries, and we assess constraints like public benefits eligibility or creditor exposure. These conversations inform the selection between conduit and accumulation trust structures and shape the trust’s distribution terms, trustee powers, and contingencies. Clear objectives help ensure the drafted trust will function as intended and coordinate properly with retirement plan rules and related estate planning instruments.
In the drafting phase we prepare trust language tailored to your distribution goals and plan rules, draft supporting documents like certification of trust and pour-over wills, and prepare beneficiary designation instructions. We also work with you to name trustees and set successor arrangements. Coordination is crucial to ensure that the trust qualifies under plan administrator standards and that beneficiary forms reflect current intentions. Clear, precise drafting reduces administration delays and aligns retirement account transfers with your estate planning objectives.
Crafting trust language requires specifying trustee duties, distribution schedules, allowable uses of funds, and provisions for required minimum distributions. We focus on language that is both practical and compliant with retirement plan rules to preserve intended tax outcomes. The drafted terms also address contingencies like beneficiary death or incapacity, and incorporate directions for integrating retirement proceeds with other trust assets, ensuring an orderly administration that supports your long-term goals for the funds and beneficiaries.
We prepare complementary documents such as pour-over wills, financial powers of attorney, and advance health care directives to support a cohesive estate plan. We also create a certification of trust for use with financial institutions and assist with completing beneficiary designation forms for retirement accounts. This comprehensive package ensures institutions have the information necessary to recognize trust authority and transfer assets as intended, minimizing administrative friction and protecting the plan holder’s wishes for their retirement accounts.
After documents are finalized, we assist with signing and witnessing as required, filing or storing documents, and implementing beneficiary designation changes with financial institutions. We recommend periodic reviews to account for life changes, tax law updates, or alterations in family circumstances. Ongoing review helps ensure trusts continue to function as designed and that beneficiaries remain protected. Regular check-ins reduce the risk of outdated designations or unintended consequences and keep your retirement and estate plan aligned over time.
Execution involves proper signing, witnessing, and notarization where necessary, followed by delivering certified trust documents or certification of trust to financial institutions so they can accept the trust as beneficiary. We help coordinate communication with plan administrators to confirm receipt and acceptance of revised designations. Clear notifications and documentation limit delays and ensure that accounts will be administered according to the newly drafted trust terms, minimizing confusion when distributions become necessary.
Life events and changing laws can alter the suitability of a retirement plan trust, so periodic maintenance is essential. We recommend regular reviews after major milestones such as marriages, births, deaths, or changes in financial circumstances. These updates include reassessing beneficiary designations, trustee appointments, and distribution terms to ensure continued alignment with your objectives. Ongoing attention preserves intended protections and reduces the possibility of surprises for heirs and fiduciaries when the time comes to administer retirement assets.
A retirement plan trust is a trust specifically drafted to receive retirement plan proceeds after the plan participant’s death. It is designed to hold and distribute retirement assets according to the terms set by the plan participant, offering ways to manage distributions, protect beneficiaries, and align retirement benefits with broader estate planning goals. The trust can define who receives funds, when they receive them, and under what circumstances, which is helpful for families who want to avoid outright distributions to beneficiaries who may need oversight or who would benefit from staged payouts. Using a retirement plan trust may be appropriate when beneficiaries include minors or individuals who require sustained support, when there are concerns about creditor claims, or when coordinating retirement accounts with other documents like revocable living trusts and pour-over wills. Proper drafting ensures compatibility with plan administrator requirements and tax rules such as required minimum distributions, so the trust achieves the intended balance between control and preservation of retirement benefits for heirs.
Naming a trust as the beneficiary of a retirement account can affect how required minimum distributions are calculated and when taxes are due. If the trust meets certain criteria set by the plan administrator and the tax code, beneficiaries may be able to stretch distributions over a longer period, preserving tax-deferred growth. If the trust does not meet those criteria, the account could be subject to accelerated distribution rules, which may result in larger immediate tax liabilities for the estate or beneficiaries. To mitigate adverse outcomes, the trust must include language that identifies beneficiaries and allows the plan administrator to determine payout options consistent with tax rules. Coordination between the trust terms and beneficiary designation forms is essential to preserve preferred distribution timing and minimize unintended tax consequences. Consulting with someone familiar with retirement plan administration and trust drafting will help ensure the trust is structured appropriately.
A conduit trust requires the trustee to pass retirement plan distributions directly to the beneficiary, preserving the beneficiary’s right to stretch distributions under certain tax rules. This structure provides less protection from creditor claims or beneficiary mismanagement because funds are distributed directly. An accumulation trust permits the trustee to retain distributions within the trust for management and later distribution, offering more protection but potentially changing tax treatment and the availability of stretched distributions. Choosing between these structures depends on priorities such as protecting assets, preserving tax benefits, and controlling distribution timing. Trust language must align with plan requirements so the desired distribution method remains available. Each family’s situation is different, so weighing the trade-offs between protection and tax treatment guides the selection of the appropriate trust structure.
A retirement plan trust can be drafted to help preserve a beneficiary’s eligibility for public benefits by controlling how and when funds are distributed. For beneficiaries who rely on means-tested programs, unrestricted distributions could disqualify them from necessary benefits. Trust provisions that limit direct access and permit trustee-managed disbursements for allowable needs can reduce the risk of losing benefits while still providing support for medical care, housing, and daily living expenses. However, crafting such provisions requires careful alignment with public benefits rules and an understanding of how distributions are counted for eligibility. Ensuring the trust is structured to meet these complex requirements often involves coordinating with legal and financial advisors to balance support for the beneficiary with preservation of critical public resources.
To ensure a trust qualifies under a retirement plan’s beneficiary rules, the trust must contain specific language and meet standards that plan administrators require to treat the trust beneficiaries as designated beneficiaries for distribution purposes. This often includes clear identification of beneficiaries, timely documentation, and provisions that allow for the determination of individual beneficiaries’ life expectancies for distribution calculations. Failure to meet these standards can lead to accelerated distributions or loss of favorable tax treatment. Working through plan administrator guidelines and including precise trust language helps avoid these pitfalls. It is also important to complete and submit beneficiary designation forms correctly, and to provide necessary trust certifications to financial institutions so the trust is recognized and administered as intended when account distributions are triggered.
Naming a trust as beneficiary does not typically increase probate complexity because retirement accounts with direct beneficiary designations usually pass outside probate. The trust receives the retirement assets directly upon the account holder’s death, provided beneficiary designations are correctly completed and acknowledged by the plan administrator. This can actually reduce probate involvement by ensuring that account proceeds are handled within the trust structure rather than going through probate administration. Nonetheless, careful coordination with existing wills and other estate documents is necessary to prevent conflicting instructions. Ensuring beneficiary forms, trust agreements, and pour-over wills are consistent minimizes administrative issues and promotes a smoother transition of retirement assets to the intended beneficiaries without unnecessary probate delays.
Choosing a trustee for a retirement plan trust requires balancing trustworthiness, financial judgment, and familiarity with fiduciary duties. A trustee should be willing to follow the trust’s terms, manage distributions responsibly, and communicate clearly with beneficiaries. Options include a trusted family member, a close friend with financial acumen, or a corporate trustee; each choice has trade-offs related to cost, neutrality, and administration complexity. Successor trustees should also be named to provide continuity over time. Consider whether the trustee will have the ability and time to manage ongoing duties, especially if distributions will be complex or if specialized tax or investment decisions are required. Clear guidance in the trust about decision-making authority and successor arrangements helps ensure that the trustee can administer the trust in ways that reflect your objectives and provide reliable support for beneficiaries.
You should review beneficiary designations and trust documents after any major life event, and also periodically as laws and financial circumstances change. Events that prompt a review include marriage, divorce, births, deaths, significant changes in asset values, or relocation. Regular reviews help prevent outdated beneficiary forms from overriding your intentions and ensure that trust provisions remain aligned with current family dynamics and financial goals. In addition to event-driven reviews, an annual or biennial check-in on estate planning documents is practical to confirm that trustee appointments, distribution terms, and beneficiary designations are still appropriate. Proactive maintenance reduces the risk of unintended outcomes and helps beneficiaries avoid administrative complications when distributions are required.
Yes, a retirement plan trust can and often should work in concert with other estate planning documents such as a pour-over will and a revocable living trust. A pour-over will directs assets not already included in a trust to be transferred into the trust through probate, while a revocable living trust can manage a broader range of assets during life and after death. Coordinating these documents ensures consistent treatment of retirement accounts and other estate assets, reducing the chance of conflicting instructions and administrative hurdles. This coordinated approach also allows for consolidated trustee authority and clearer administration pathways for beneficiaries and fiduciaries. Preparing complementary documents such as certification of trust and advance directives further streamlines interactions with financial institutions and helps ensure that retirement assets are distributed in accordance with the overall estate plan.
To begin creating a retirement plan trust, gather information about your retirement accounts, current beneficiary designations, existing estate planning documents, and any family circumstances that influence distribution preferences. Consider who you want to benefit, the timing of distributions, and whether beneficiaries require oversight or special protections. This information forms the basis for determining whether a trust is necessary and which trust structure best achieves your objectives. Next, consult with a qualified attorney to draft trust language aligned with plan administrator rules and tax considerations. Complete beneficiary designation forms naming the trust where appropriate, prepare supporting documents such as certification of trust and pour-over wills, and select trustees and successors to administer the trust. Finally, commit to periodic reviews so the plan remains up to date with life changes and legal developments.
Criminal Defense
Homicide Defense
Manslaughter
Assault and Battery
Assault with a Deadly Weapon
Battery Causing Great Bodily Injury
Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence Protection Orders
Domestic Violence Restraining Order
Arson Defense
Weapons Charges
Illegal Firearm Possessions
Civil Harassment
Civil Harassment Restraining Orders
School Violence Restraining Orders
Violent Crimes Defense
Estate Planning Practice Areas