Category: Estate Planning

Trusted New Orleans Estate Planning Lawyers: You spent your whole life working hard and building an estate to be proud of.  To be sure that estate transfers to seamlessly, a solid estate plan is paramount. An estate planning lawyer is an attorney who specializes in assisting families and individuals with planning for the transfer of their estates to their heirs.  An experienced estate planning attorney not only drafts the necessary documents but offers guidance as to which instruments will best suit your situation and meet your estate goals.  Our New Orleans estate planning attorneys will advise you on the difference

Louisiana Spendthrift Trusts Explained: A trust is a legal document between a person creating the trust (the grantor) and the person or entity managing the trust and its assets (the trustee).  A grantor may also be referred to as a settlor or trustor.  A trust also has beneficiaries, who under the terms of the trust, will receive certain assets from the trust. A “spendthrift” trust allows the grantor to shield assets from creditors and ensure that beneficiaries do not receive all of the grantor’s transferable assets in one lump sum upon their death.  It’s a crucial estate planning tool that

Louisiana Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts Explained: A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust (“MAPT”) is one kind of irrevocable trust intended to safeguard assets in order to qualify for Medicaid.  Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are usually not covered by standard health insurance, so people must either pay for them out of pocket or qualify for Medicaid, which has requirements related to income and asset limits.  Medicaid only covers your long-term care if you are below the asset limits.  Any assets beyond the asset limit would first need to be liquidated and used for your care.  However, if assets are

New Orleans Estate and Trust Lawyers: A trust lawyer is an estate planning attorney who specializes in assisting trustees, settlors, beneficiaries, and heirs in obtaining and preserving their inheritance through probate, trust administration, trust disputes, and various estate planning situations.  An experienced trust attorney is needed to advise which type of trust is best suited for an individual’s needs.  As a result, a trust lawyer can help you navigate local, state, and federal regulations as well as additional legal and tax ramifications based on your assets and wishes. During the initial appointment, a Louisiana trust lawyer will talk over your

Louisiana Advance Directives Explained: An advance directive or “living will” is a legally binding document that gives instructions for health care at the end of life.  It comes into play when you are no longer able to make or communicate those decisions yourself.  It is used when your condition is terminal and irreversible.  It is a good idea to speak with immediate family when preparing an advance directive to let them know the decisions that you have made. In Louisiana, an advance directive is only used to indicate a desire to withhold certain life-supporting medical treatments.  There are various types

Louisiana Irrevocable Trusts Explained: Irrevocable trusts are living trusts that are created during the grantor’s (or settlor’s) lifetime and which cannot be changed or revoked like a revocable trust.  They are essentially contracts with yourself.  A trustee is appointed to manage the assets on behalf of the beneficiaries.  While grantors often appoint themselves as the initial trustee in revocable trusts, they lose many of the benefits of an irrevocable trust if the trust is “self-settled”.  Thus, a third-party trustee should be appointed. The purpose of an irrevocable trust is to move the assets from the grantor’s control to that of

Louisiana Revocable Trusts Explained: A revocable trust is a type of living trust that you can create during your lifetime and as such is an important estate planning tool.  It is essentially a contract reflecting an agreement regarding the passing of property from one to another.  The grantor (or settlor) maintains ownership and full control over the assets in the revocable trust while he or she is still alive. Per La. R.S. 9:2022, “reservation of the right to revoke includes the right to modify the trust.”  Per La. R.S. 9:2042, “a reservation by the settlor of the right to revoke

Louisiana Testamentary Trusts Explained: A trust is a legally binding document created by a grantor (also known as a settlor or trustor) that holds assets for beneficiaries.  A trustee is appointed and is responsible for managing the trust assets and proceeds in accordance with the terms set by the grantor.  A “testamentary” trust allows the grantor to transfer ownership of their property to the trust upon their death.  Per La. R.S. 9:1733, “[a] trust is testamentary when it is created by donation mortis causa.”  This is in contrast to a living trust which becomes effective immediately.  Testamentary trusts are created

Louisiana Living Trusts Explained: A trust is a legally binding instrument between a person creating the trust (the grantor) and the person or entity managing the trust and its assets (the trustee).  A grantor may also be referred to as a settlor or trustor.  Like a will, a trust has beneficiaries, who under the terms of the trust, will receive certain assets from the trust. A “living” trust (also called an “inter vivos” trust) allows the grantor to transfer ownership of their property to the trust during their lifetime.  This is in contrast to a testamentary trust which does not