Oklahoma City Trust Attorney

Trusts are incredibly versatile estate planning tools, designed to help people meet various goals during their lifetimes and after death. Whether you want to ensure your estate avoids probate court when you die, want to plan for structured distributions for beneficiaries, are concerned about estate tax implications, or want to leave a charitable legacy, a trust could be a great addition to your estate plan.

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As a skilled trust attorney in Oklahoma City, Goodnight Law provides a range of estate planning services. We help high-net worth individuals, blended families, families with minor children, families with special needs individuals, and others create trusts and other tailored estate planning documents.

 

Types of Trusts

 

There is no “one-size-fits-all” type of trust. Depending on your goals and circumstances, your trust lawyer may recommend one or more of the following popular trusts:

 

• Revocable Living Trusts. The most popular type of trust, a revocable living trust can be used to ensure trust assets avoid probate, create structure for beneficiary distributions, maximize the marital estate tax exemption, and more. Because it is revocable, your living trust attorney can help you make changes during your lifetime if your goals or wishes change.

• Irrevocable Living Trusts. With an irrevocable trust, you relinquish your rights to control assets you put into trust. Your trustee administers assets according to your wishes, as documented in the trust agreement. Because it is irrevocable, you cannot later make changes. The primary benefit of an irrevocable trust is that assets are removed from your estate for tax purposes.

• Asset Protection Trusts. Talk to your trust litigation lawyer if you have concerns about protecting assets from creditors, lawsuits, or judgments. An asset protection trust is an irrevocable trust designed to do just that. When structured correctly, this complex type of trust can allow for certain, discretionary distributions to qualified beneficiaries.

• Charitable Trusts. Different types of charitable trusts could help you meet charitable goals. For example, your living trust lawyer could help you create a “lead” trust, where a charitable entity receives trust distributions during your lifetime but assets revert to individual beneficiaries when you die, or a “remainder” trust, where you receive lifetime distributions and the remainder passes to a charitable beneficiary.

• Special Needs Trusts. If you have a beneficiary with special needs, creating a special needs trust could help ensure there are funds available to supplement any government benefits received — without jeopardizing eligibility for those benefits. Special needs trusts are irrevocable. Your trust lawyer can help ensure your special needs trust includes all required provisions to be valid.

 

Contact Goodnight Law to speak with a trust attorney in Oklahoma City to explore whether one or more of these types of trusts may make sense as part of your estate plan, based on your specific circumstances, needs, and goals.

 

Why Hire a Trust Attorney?

 

Trusts can be powerful tools in your estate planning toolbox — but only if they are structured correctly. Certain legal requirements must be met to create valid trusts. What’s more, if a trust does not include specific language or provisions, your wishes may not be honored.

 

This is why estate planners strongly recommend against taking a “do-it-yourself” approach. Seeking the expertise and guidance of a knowledgeable trust attorney in Oklahoma City can give you invaluable peace of mind as you create and refine your estate plan.

 

Choose Goodnight Law as Your Estate and Trust Attorney

 

Established in 2022 and based in Oklahoma City, Goodnight Law is dedicated to helping people structure and implement meaningful estate plans. When you meet with an experienced estate planning and trust litigation attorney, you can be confident your plan is in skilled, capable hands.

 

Our firm takes a hands-on approach to helping clients. In fact, your trust attorney in Oklahoma City can even meet at your home to help you inventory your assets, helping ensure your estate plan captures everything of value. We have helped clients across Oklahoma establish trusts and other estate planning documents designed to meet each client’s specific wishes and needs.

 

Don’t leave your estate plan to chance. Contact Goodnight Law today to schedule your free consultation, and to discover whether a trust should be part of your plan.