Are you looking for a trust lawyer in Shreveport, LA? At Theus Law Offices, we are Shreveport, LA trust lawyers committed to thorough preparation in every matter we handle.
If you want your home, savings, or business in Shreveport to pass to your family without a court proceeding, a trust may be the right planning tool. A trust can also name someone to manage your affairs if illness leaves you unable to do so. Theus Law Offices and our Shreveport, LA trust lawyers bring decades of legal experience. Contact our office to schedule a consultation.
Trust Lawyer Shreveport, LA
Our Shreveport trust lawyer advises people who want to place property in a trust, prepares the documents that create it, and helps trustees carry out their duties afterward. In a trust, the person who creates it gives legal title to a trustee. The trustee then holds and manages the property for the people named in the document. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that a living trust can pass property at death without a court process.
Owners occupy 53.3% of Shreveport homes, and the median value of those homes is $178,900, according to Census Bureau figures. A home, a retirement account, and a life insurance policy are enough to justify a conversation with our Shreveport trust attorney. Trusts are not reserved for wealthy families.
Types of Trust Matters We Handle in Shreveport
Trust work in our Shreveport office falls into two groups. Some clients need a new trust drafted. Others need help with a related matter involving a trust. Our Shreveport trust attorneys handle the following case types:
- Living trusts. A revocable living trust lets you manage your own property as trustee for as long as you are able. Your successor trustee takes over at your incapacity or death, and no judge needs to approve the change.
- Irrevocable trusts. Once property is placed in this kind of trust, you generally cannot take it back or rewrite the terms on your own. Clients accept that limit in exchange for tax or long-term care planning benefits. Our Shreveport trust lawyers explain each tradeoff before you sign.
- Medicaid planning. Care in a nursing facility is expensive, and many families pay for it from savings. A trust created early enough may keep a home or other assets available to a spouse or children. Timing matters because a late transfer can delay eligibility.
- Elder law. Planning for later life involves more than one document. We combine trusts with powers of attorney and medical directives so that a person you chose can manage your finances and health decisions.
- Special needs trusts. A child or adult who receives SSI or Medicaid can lose those benefits after receiving an inheritance outright. A special needs trust holds the inheritance for that person’s benefit instead.
- Trusts for minor children. Children cannot manage inherited property on their own. A trust names an adult to manage the funds and sets the ages at which your children receive them.
- Probate. Property that was never moved into a trust usually requires a court filing after death. Our Shreveport trust lawyers can handle those filings in Caddo Parish and identify which assets already pass under the trust.
- Successions. Succession is Louisiana’s term for settling a deceased person’s estate. A trust created by a will takes effect through a succession.
- Ancillary probate. Some Shreveport families own land, mineral interests, or a second home in Texas or Arkansas. Property in another state can require a second court proceeding there, and a trust can avoid it.
- Trustee guidance. A person named as trustee takes on duties of loyalty, recordkeeping, and reporting to beneficiaries. We advise new trustees on collecting assets, paying expenses, and making distributions that follow the document.
Why Choose Theus Law Offices as My Trust Lawyer in Shreveport, LA?
Board-Certified Estate Planning and Tax Credentials
Two Louisiana board certifications distinguish J. Graves Theus, Jr. The Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization has certified him in Estate Planning and Administration and in Tax Law. His legal training includes a law degree earned cum laude at Gonzaga University School of Law in 1996 and a master of laws in tax from Boston University School of Law in 1997. He joined the Louisiana State Bar Association in 1999. Peers have given him the AV Preeminent rating through Martindale-Hubbell, and he holds VA accreditation for veterans’ pension claims. Clients who need an estate planning lawyer in Shreveport, LA receive the benefit of that background.
A Shreveport Office and Flat Fees
Our Shreveport office is located at 910 Pierremont Road, Suite 107. Trust work is billed as a flat fee, so you are not charged by the hour for the drafting of your trust. A trust consultation with our Shreveport trust lawyer is free after you attend one of our estate planning workshops or webinars.
Understanding Trusts in Louisiana
Key Trust Documents and What They Do
When working with our Shreveport trust attorneys, four or five documents usually make up a trust-based plan:
- The trust agreement is the governing document. A living trust can be amended during your lifetime, and an irrevocable trust generally cannot.
- A pour-over will catches property that was not retitled before death and sends it to the trust.
- An extract of trust lets banks and title companies confirm the trustee’s authority without reading the full document.
- A financial power of attorney covers assets that remain outside the trust.
- Health care directives name the person who makes medical decisions for you.
What Are Important Aspects of a Trust?
The quality of a trust depends on decisions made before it is signed and on work done afterward. Louisiana rules affect several of those decisions, with some of these rules including:
- A trust has no effect on property that still sits in your individual name. A properly funded trust holds title to each asset it is meant to control.
- The trustee controls investments and distributions, which is why choosing the right trustee deserves careful thought.
- A revocable trust does not protect assets from your own creditors, because you keep control of the property.
- Louisiana recognizes usufruct, which is the right to use property and receive its income while another person holds ownership. A trust must be coordinated with any usufruct a surviving spouse will receive.
- Forced heirship and community property rules limit how some property can be left, and the trust must account for both.
- Public benefits have their own trust rules. The Social Security Administration publishes SSI trust guidance, federal law requires Medicaid estate recovery from the estates of certain recipients, and the state health department runs Louisiana’s long-term care program.
- Larger estates should also be reviewed for the federal estate tax.
What Is the Trust Planning Timeline?
Most trusts move through the same stages when working with our Shreveport trust lawyers. Clients who gather their financial information early finish sooner.
- The process starts with a workshop or webinar, followed by a consultation.
- We agree with you on the type of trust, the trustee, the beneficiaries, and the distribution terms.
- Our attorneys prepare drafts, and you review them and ask questions.
- The final documents are signed before a notary and witnesses.
- Real estate, accounts, and business interests are retitled in the name of the trust.
- The trust should be reviewed when your family or your assets change.
What Should You Bring to Your Trust Consultation?
Our Shreveport trust attorney can give more precise advice when the following items are available at the first meeting.
- We ask for recent statements for bank, brokerage, and retirement accounts.
- You should bring property descriptions or deeds for your home and any other land, including property outside Louisiana.
- Any will, trust, power of attorney, or marriage contract you have already signed should come with you.
- A list of the people you want to benefit, with their ages and any special circumstances, is also needed.
The consultation covers your goals, the trust options that fit them, and our flat fee. It is free after you attend a workshop or webinar.
Caddo Parish District Court and Local Resources
- The First Judicial District Court sits in the Caddo Parish Courthouse at 501 Texas Street. The Clerk’s civil filings department receives the pleadings in civil matters there.
- The Clerk’s property records include deeds and mortgages dating to 1839. Transfers of Caddo Parish real estate into a trust are recorded with this office.
- The Caddo Parish Assessor handles homestead exemptions from Room 102 of the courthouse. Homeowners should confirm their exemption after placing a home in a trust.
- The Caddo Council on Aging provides legal services to parish residents over 60 and counsels families on long-term care programs.
Reach Out to Theus Law Offices to Schedule a Consultation
Theus Law Offices drafts trusts under Louisiana law for a flat fee. Your trust consultation is free once you have attended one of our workshops or webinars, and it covers your assets, your family, and the options available to you. Our Shreveport trust attorney will answer your questions at that meeting. Our Pierremont Road office schedules appointments by phone and online. Contact us to schedule your consultation today.
