Trusts are one of the most flexible and powerful tools in estate planning — but they are not one-size-fits-all. Understanding the different types helps you choose the right tool for your goals, your family, and your situation.
What is the difference between a revocable and irrevocable trust in Florida?
A revocable living trust is created during your lifetime and can be changed, amended, or revoked at any time as long as you remain mentally competent. You typically serve as your own trustee while you are alive and well. The trust names a successor trustee who steps in if you become incapacitated or when you die.
When you die, a single-person revocable trust becomes irrevocable. An irrevocable trust, by contrast, is locked from the start — you transfer assets into it and give up ownership and control. That trade-off can offer significant advantages: assets in an irrevocable trust are typically beyond the reach of the grantor's creditors and may be excluded from the taxable estate.
What is trust funding and why does it matter?
A trust only protects assets that have been legally transferred into it. This process — called trust funding — is where many people fall short. You can have a beautifully drafted revocable trust, but if your home and bank accounts are still titled in your individual name when you die, they will go through probate instead.
Funding a trust means retitling real estate in the trust's name, changing account ownership, and updating beneficiary designations. Most revocable trusts are paired with a pour-over will — a backup document that captures any assets inadvertently left out of the trust and directs them into it at death.
What is a special needs trust in Florida?
A special needs trust holds assets for a beneficiary with a disability without disqualifying them from means-tested government programs like Medicaid and SSI. If a person with a disability receives a direct inheritance, it can push them over the asset limits and cut off their benefits.
Assets held in a properly drafted special needs trust can be used to pay for things government programs do not cover — travel, education, therapies, quality-of-life enhancements — without counting as available resources for eligibility purposes.
What is a spendthrift trust, and who needs one?
A spendthrift trust contains a provision that prevents a beneficiary from assigning their future trust distributions to creditors before they actually receive them. If your child or grandchild has struggled with debt, addiction, or poor financial decisions, a spendthrift trust ensures your assets reach them on your terms. Florida law specifically recognizes and enforces spendthrift provisions under the Florida Trust Code.
At Lauren Richardson Law, we help Gainesville-area families match the right trust structure to their real-life goals — whether that is keeping assets out of probate, protecting a child with special needs, or making sure a beneficiary's inheritance lasts.