Marital Trust

Avoid Estate Taxes While Protecting Your Spouse

The goal of a marital trust is to avoid having taxes levied against your estate at the time of your death. A marital trust is an important tool which allows you maximize the wealth available to your spouse after you die.

At the Law Offices of Jo Bess Jackson, P.C., located in Dallas, Texas, we can assist spouses in crafting a specially-tailored estate plan, which utilizes the marital trust. Attorney Jo Bess Jackson, will listen to all of her clients’ concerns about the tax liability of their estate, while doing her best to provide them with the informative answers they desire. To learn more about a marital trust and estate tax, contact us to schedule a free initial consultation.

Marital Estate Planning

Proper estate planning for spouses involves determining the goals of each spouse, and using all available legal options to satisfy the goals of both. Here are some examples of the tools which our firm uses in marital estate planning:

• Marital Trust: This is a trust between spouses, into which you may transfer up two million dollars, tax-free, for the benefit of your spouse.
• Family Trust: This trust is also known as a revocable living trust. It is created during your lifetime and allows you to alter or revoke it altogether, while still retaining all the benefits of an irrevocable trust.
• Bypass Trust: This is an irrevocable trust that allows your spouse to enjoy the income of the trust, while reducing any accompanying taxes through the distribution of the property to your children.
• Insurance Trust (ILIT): This is an irrevocable trust where the named beneficiaries receive income at the time of your death.
• AB Trust: This trust allows spouses to transfer their property into a trust. When one spouse dies, that spouse's interest in the trust is then distributed to the spouse's beneficiaries.

We also advise spouses living outside of Texas about the implications of probate, as Texas courts will not have jurisdiction over any probate property in another state. However, you can transfer property into a simple living trust to avoid multiple probates.

To learn more about a marital trust and estate tax, contact the lawyer Jo Bess Jackson to schedule a free initial consultation. We counsel couples throughout North Texas, including McKinney, Fort Worth, Irving, Plano, and Arlington. Visit our information center to learn more about your estate plan. Please call (214) 219-2285.