Trust Planning Attorney in New Hampshire
Protecting what you’ve built takes more than simply deciding who should receive your assets. A well-designed trust can help you control how your property is managed, reduce unnecessary complications, and act as a vehicle to through which you carry out your wishes when you are no longer able to do so yourself.
Servicing Portsmouth, NH, and the surrounding New Hampshire areas, as well as Maine & Massachusetts.
Trust planning is not about using complicated legal structures simply because they are available. The right trust depends on your assets, your family, your concerns, and what you want to happen in the future.
A trust is a legal arrangement that allows property to be held and managed for the benefit of one or more people. Depending on the type of trust and how it is structured, a trust may help you:
- Control how and when beneficiaries receive assets
- Avoid or minimize a cumbersome, expensive probate process
- Provide for children or other beneficiaries who may need ongoing support
- Plan for the management of your property if you become incapacitated
- Address estate and tax planning considerations
- Protect important assets in appropriate circumstances
- Provide continuity for family wealth or a family business
- Coordinate property located in more than one state, thereby avoiding the need for probate in those states
Not every trust accomplishes all of these things, and not every person needs a trust. Our job is to help you understand what a trust can do for you, and cannot do, in your particular situation.
A trust is rarely the entire estate plan. Your plan may also include a will, durable power of attorney, health care advance directive, HIPAA authorization, beneficiary designations, business succession planning, and other documents.
The important question is not simply, “Do I need a trust?” It is, “What plan best accomplishes what I want for myself and the people, or perhaps charities, I care about?” We look at your whole picture before recommending a solution.
There are many different types of trusts, and the terminology can quickly become confusing. We explain the differences in plain English and help you determine whether a particular type of trust has a legitimate purpose in your life.
A revocable living trust can allow you to place assets into a trust during your lifetime while generally retaining control over those assets. You can typically amend or revoke the trust as your circumstances change.
For many families, a revocable living trust is primarily about control, continuity, and avoiding some of the complications associated with probate. It can also provide a framework for responsibly managing assets for loved ones, money for a down payment on a first home, or money for your own business if you become incapacitated or pass away.
A revocable trust is not automatically the right choice for everyone. We can help you determine whether it makes sense based on your assets, family circumstances, and goals.
An irrevocable trust generally involves giving up a degree of control over the assets placed into the trust. In exchange, depending on how it is structured and the circumstances involved, an irrevocable trust may provide estate tax protection, asset protection, or other planning benefits.
These trusts require careful explanation and consideration. We explain both the potential benefits and the limitations before recommending this type of planning.
Leaving assets outright to a beneficiary is not always the best way to provide for them. A trust can allow assets to be managed for a beneficiary according to terms you establish.
This can be particularly important when planning for:
Minor children
Young adult children
A beneficiary who may have difficulty managing money
An addictive beneficiary
A beneficiary in a tenuous marriage
A beneficiary who owes money to third parties
A family member with special circumstances
Long-term family wealth planning
The goal is not to unnecessarily control your beneficiaries. It is to create a thoughtful framework for protecting the assets you worked hard to build not only for you, but for them.
For some individuals and families, trust planning is an important part of addressing estate taxes or protecting assets.
These strategies can become more sophisticated when accumulated wealth, business interests, real estate, or property in multiple states is involved. We help clients understand the planning opportunities available to them and coordinate their trust arrangements with the rest of their estate plan.
Your estate plan should reflect your actual life—not a generic checklist.
For some clients, trust planning may focus primarily on a home, investment accounts, and other personal assets. For others, the plan may need to account for multiple properties, a closely held or a family business, substantial investments, or assets located in more than one state.
Planning for Real Estate in Multiple States
Owning real estate outside New Hampshire can create additional estate-planning considerations. A properly structured trust may help simplify how certain property is handled after your death and reduce the need for separate probate proceedings in other states, even over relatively small assets such as timeshares.
We help clients think through these issues as part of their overall estate plan rather than treating each asset in isolation.
Trust Planning for Business Owners
If you have spent years building a business, your estate plan should address more than your personal assets.
Trust planning can sometimes play a role in business succession, ownership transfers, and protecting the value you have created for the next generation, including by keeping key people in the business. We work with business owners to understand how their estate plan, business interests, and long-term goals fit together.
Planning for the People You Care About
Estate planning is ultimately about people. You may want to make sure your spouse is provided for, provide your children and loved ones with financial security, protect assets for future generations, or create a responsible plan for a beneficiary who needs additional or special needs support.
Whatever your circumstances, we start by listening. Then we explain the legal options available to you and help you make informed decisions.
Trust planning can involve sophisticated legal and financial considerations. That does not mean the process needs to feel complicated or impersonal.
At LaPorte Law Group, Attorney Thomas LaPorte brings experienced estate-planning counsel together with the personal attention you expect from a local attorney. In a majority of cases, a flat fee is agreed upon in advance so you know the cost up front.
Plain-Spoken Legal Advice: We explain the law rather than trying to impress you with it. You should understand what your trust does, why it is being recommended, how it fits with your other estate-planning documents, and what you need to do to make the plan work.
Experienced Counsel Without Unnecessary Layers: LaPorte Law Group provides large-firm-caliber legal work while remaining accessible and approachable. You work directly with an attorney who takes the time to understand your circumstances and your goals.
Fair and Transparent Fees: Where appropriate, LaPorte Law Group generally uses flat fees that are agreed upon in advance. Our goal is to provide high-quality legal counsel without passing along the unnecessary overhead associated with larger firms.
Diligence That Treats Your Assets Like They Matter: We approach your legal and financial concerns with the same care and diligence we would expect for our own families. The details matter, and we take the responsibility of getting them right seriously.
Serving Clients Throughout New Hampshire, Massachusetts & Maine
LaPorte Law Group is located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and works with clients throughout New Hampshire as well as neighboring Maine and Massachusetts.
Estate planning does not always stop at a state line. Clients may own property in multiple states, have family members who live elsewhere, or operate businesses with connections across New England.
Our role is to help you understand how those circumstances affect your estate plan and coordinate your planning accordingly.
If you are looking for a trust planning attorney in NH, we welcome the opportunity to talk with you about what you are trying to accomplish and whether trust planning makes sense for you.
Hear From Our Clients
What does a trust planning attorney do?
A trust planning attorney helps individuals and families determine whether a trust should be part of their estate plan and, if so, what type of trust is appropriate.
At LaPorte Law Group, we look beyond the trust document itself. We consider your assets, family circumstances, business interests, tax considerations, and long-term goals to help create an estate plan that works as a whole. We also regularly review existing or old trust and estate plans to ensure they do what you wanted or intended, or now intend.
Just as importantly, we explain the plan in plain language so you understand what you are putting in place and why.
Do I need a trust if I already have a will?
Not necessarily. A will and a trust serve different purposes, and some people may benefit from having both.
A will generally directs how certain assets should be distributed after death and can nominate guardians for minor children. A trust provides much more control over assets, continuity during incapacity, protection, and, in many cases, helps avoid or minimize probate proceedings, resulting in net savings to you, even where the cost of the trust is factored in.
Whether you need a trust depends on your circumstances. We do not recommend trusts simply because they are available. We recommend the planning that makes sense for your goals.
What is the difference between a revocable and irrevocable trust?
The primary difference is the amount of control you generally retain over the trust and its assets. With a revocable trust, the person creating the trust typically retains significant control and can generally amend or revoke it during their lifetime. An irrevocable trust generally involves giving up control, but can provide planning benefits that a revocable trust cannot.
The right choice depends on what you are trying to accomplish. We explain the tradeoffs before recommending either approach. Many people can have both, placing some assets in an irrevocable trust and others in a revocable trust.
Can a trust help avoid probate in New Hampshire?
The probate process in the states where LaPorte Law Group practices is expensive, cumbersome, and lengthy. A properly funded trust can help keep certain assets out of the probate process, but creating the trust is only part of the process. Assets generally need to be properly titled or otherwise coordinated with the trust for the trust to accomplish its intended purpose. Other assets, such as accounts with beneficiary designations, may be handled differently.
We help clients understand how their assets fit together and assist with beneficiary designations and re-titling of assets so their estate plan works as intended, not simply how to sign a package of documents.
How much does trust planning cost in New Hampshire?
The cost of trust planning depends on the complexity of your circumstances and the type of planning involved. At LaPorte Law Group, we believe legal fees should be clear and understandable. Where appropriate, we generally use flat fees agreed upon in advance so clients know what they are paying for before the work begins.
We encourage you to discuss your circumstances with us so we can explain what planning may be appropriate and what it will involve.
You have worked hard to build what you have. Your desire to protect what you have built, and make sure it reaches the people and causes that matter to you, is understandable and reasonable. Trust planning does not need to be intimidating, and you should not have to become an expert in estate law to make good decisions.
LaPorte Law Group provides clear, practical trust and estate-planning guidance for clients throughout New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts. We take the time to understand what matters to you, explain your options without unnecessary legal jargon, and help you put a plan in place with knowledge and confidence.
If you are considering trust planning in New Hampshire, contact LaPorte Law Group to discuss your goals and determine what approach makes sense for you.