Trust Lawyers in Beaverton, OR 

Clear Planning Is a Kindness to Those You Care About

Trust planning can be emotional, but it shouldn’t be confusing. We don’t rush decisions or overwhelm you with legal jargon. Instead, we explain your options in plain language so you can make informed choices. 

At Sunstone Planning LLC, we believe clear planning is a kindness to those you care about. It can reduce confusion and potential disputes while giving your loved ones clear instructions about your wishes. Clear trust instructions can also help make a successor trustee’s role more manageable, and trust documents should be revisited when family relationships, assets, or intended beneficiaries change.

What to Expect When Working with Our Trust Lawyers

Our five-step process moves from learning about your family and assets to drafting, trust funding guidance, and later updates.

Trust Planning from Consultation through Ongoing Support

Step 1: Initial Consultation

We begin with a free consultation to learn about your goals, family, assets, concerns, and priorities. Together, we evaluate whether a trust fits your plan.

Step 2: Strategy and Education

Once we know your needs, we can explain your trust options clearly. We can show you how each type of trust works, which goals it may address, and how it fits into your overall plan.

Step 3: Drafting and Review

After you choose a structure, we can draft the trust and any other necessary documents, such as powers of attorney. We then review each document with you and make any needed adjustments.

Step 4: Trust Funding Guidance

A trust’s effectiveness depends on proper funding. We help you transfer assets into the trust and review your beneficiary designations so ownership records match your intentions. This step is often as important as signing the trust itself.

Step 5: Ongoing Support

When your family or assets change, we can review your trust and update it as needed.

Common Types of Trusts in Oregon

Trusts are highly flexible estate planning tools, and the right type of trust depends on your goals, your assets, and the people you want to protect. We help Beaverton families evaluate these choices in relation to their specific circumstances rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.

Common trusts used in Oregon estate planning include:

• Revocable living trusts: Allow you to maintain control of your assets during your lifetime. Probate avoidance generally depends on properly transferring assets to the trust before death.
• Irrevocable trusts: Involve greater limits on amendment or revocation and should be evaluated against your specific goals, including any asset protection, tax, or eligibility considerations that apply to your circumstances.
• Special needs trusts: Provide financial support for a loved one with a disability while considering eligibility for needs-based government assistance programs.
• Testamentary trusts: Are created through a will and take effect after your death, often to provide ongoing asset management for children or other beneficiaries.
• Charitable trusts: Allow individuals to support charitable organizations while addressing philanthropic and estate planning objectives. These involve specific legal and tax considerations.
• Spendthrift trusts: Help protect a beneficiary’s inheritance by controlling how and when trust assets are distributed, subject to the trust terms and applicable law.
• Minor’s trusts: Hold and manage assets for children until they reach an age or milestone you designate.
• Pet trusts: Provide funding and instructions for the long-term care of a companion animal.
• Asset protection trusts: Certain irrevocable trust structures may, in appropriate circumstances, provide some protection of assets from future creditor claims. Oregon doesn’t have a domestic asset protection trust statute, so eligibility, available structures, limits, and tax consequences vary significantly by situation and require individualized legal advice.
• Generation-skipping trusts: Are designed for families interested in preserving wealth across multiple generations while addressing potential transfer tax considerations. These also involve specific legal and tax analysis.