FAQ Friday: Separate vs. Joint

Friday, January 9th, Attorney Paula Mattson-Sarli discusses separate trusts versus joint trusts.

In the late 1990s, early 2000’s when the exemption was much lower, a lot of attorneys would do mostly separate trusts with the thought that it would be easier when one spouses passes.

Later separate trusts became less common. In our office we mostly do joint trusts for married couples. However, when faced with blended families or other couples that keep separate assets, we will still prepare separate trusts for those clients.

Sometimes, we have people coming in wanting to re-do their trusts from 20-30 years ago and if one grantor has now become incapacitated, it becomes much more difficult to make changes. It’s also a problem for funding the trust such as when two trusts receive a check to both 50/50.

It’s very important to have a trust account open already for any future assets sold or purchased.

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