Trust Services

Cape Ann Savings Trust & Financial Services has proven itself an accomplished trust administrator throughout its 30-year history. We have also assisted clients who were named as trustees, but required assistance in fulfilling their roles. To learn how we can assist you, please call 978-283-7079 and simply ask for one of our Trust professionals, or email us. It all starts with a conversation. So, let’s start a conversation today.

You have questions. We have answers.

Trust Services

Most families contemplate a trustee for their trust only once in their life. Each and every trust situation is as unique as the family behind it. Why not select a partner with the experience and knowledge to fulfill your wishes?

Trusts draw a distinction between principal and income. Typically, income from the trust is distributed to the trust beneficiaries (off the trust’s tax return). The trust’s principal, however, is typically more protected, and is available only under certain circumstances.

Think of it like farmland. When considering a farm, the fields would be considered trust principal, while the crops grown on them would be considered income. With financial assets, stocks and bonds would be considered trust principal, while the dividends and income they produce would be considered income. The day-to-day details of trust accounting, financial assets, principal, and so on, are why many folks prefer to designate an experienced professional to act as trustee; or have the Department take on these details, so a layperson trustee can focus on the beneficiaries.

Call Cape Ann Savings Trust & Financial Services today at 978-283-7079 or email us and see how we can help.

What Is a Trust?

A trust is a legal instrument between a grantor who creates the trust and a trustee who controls and directs the assets in the trust. Most trusts name people or entities as beneficiaries. Trusts can hold nearly any type of property including cash, investments, life insurance, real estate, and business interests.

Trusts can exist for years or even decades, and they hold investments with the idea that the trust gains value and sheds income. Learn more about trusts and how to use them.

Types of Trusts

There are many different types of trusts. Each trust situation is as unique as the needs of the family behind it. Our trust professionals can help you select the right trust for your family's needs. To get started, contact us or take a look at some of the options.

Revocable Trusts

A staple of the estate planning world, a revocable living trust is created by a living person. During the grantor's life, the grantor and the trust hold property simultaneously, and the grantor can make changes to the trust at will.

Upon the grantor's death, the trust becomes irrevocable, and the trustee makes decisions in accord with the trust terms and the values of the grantor. Revocable trusts have an unparalleled ability to deal with various types of property and circumstances. Learn more about revocable trusts.

Irrevocable Trusts

An irrevocable trust cannot be changed. The grantor creates the trust and funds it by giving it property to act upon. Once created, the trust becomes its own entity. It exists separately from the grantor who created it. Although these trusts have declined in popularity recently, they have a utility for people who don't want to own anything. People often use irrevocable trusts for asset protection and to own life insurance. Learn more about irrevocable trusts.

Charitable Trusts

Charitable trusts exist to further a charitable purpose, but they also typically benefit the donor or creator. With a charitable remainder annuity trust, the grantor makes a one-time gift and the assets within the trust are sold. Then, an annuity or a stream of income benefits the donor, and when the donor passes away, the remaining assets go to charity.

A charitable remainder unitrust also begins with a gift, but unlike the one-time gift in a charitable annuity trust, these trusts can receive multiple gifts. Charitable remainder unitrusts give out a percentage of the trust's assets each year. Then, the remainder goes to charity. These two types of charitable trusts have different features and advantages. Learn more about charitable trusts.

Bypass Trusts, B-Trusts, or Credit Shelter Trusts

Also called bypass or B-trusts, credit shelter trusts are used to pass assets free of the estate tax. They usually hold assets up to the estate tax threshold. Then, assets that may be subject to the estate tax flow into another form of trust such as a marital or charitable trust. Learn more about bypass trusts, B-trusts, and credit shelter trusts.

Marital Trusts or A Trusts

A marital trust is a sub-trust of a trust that uses the ability of spouses to pass assets to each other at death, free of taxes. The grantor creates a first trust called a credit shelter trust, and the marital trust takes the overflow. The marital trust directs income and assets to the surviving spouse. Together, these trusts are often called A and B-trusts. Learn more about A trusts and marital trusts.

Generation-Skipping Trusts

Generation-skipping trusts pass assets down to the next generation. They take assets out of the grantor's estate so that they can benefit their grandkids or anyone who is at least 37.5 years younger than the grantor. These trusts are a creature of the generation-skipping tax and a tool for the very wealthy. Learn more about generation-skipping trusts.

Spendthrift Trusts

Spendthrift trusts are typically a provision of an irrevocable trust. The spendthrift provision limits who the trustee can direct their assets toward. This element of a trust provides a degree of asset protection. To a certain extent, they are used to thwart creditors and prevent beneficiaries from alienating their benefits. Learn more about spendthrift trusts.

Totten Trusts or Payable on Death Trusts

A Totten trust is a bank account with two names. Putting someone else's name on the bank account creates a transfer-on-death or payable-on-death account which goes to the named individual once the other account holder passes away. Learn more about Totten trusts.

Life Insurance Trusts

A life insurance trust is a special type of irrevocable trust. It owns and holds a life insurance policy, typically on the grantor who created the trust. The trust pays the life insurance premiums, and when the insured individual dies, the trust can hold the life insurance benefit, distribute the income, or do whatever the trust says to do for the beneficiaries. Learn more about life insurance trusts.

Special Needs Trusts

Special needs trusts are designed for special needs beneficiaries. These trusts provide benefits to people who can't attend to everything for themselves, but they can also be set up to preserve the beneficiary's public benefits. With these trusts, the trustee strives to supplement but not supplant the beneficiary's public benefits. Learn more about special needs trusts.

Testamentary Trusts

Testamentary trusts are created by the grantor's last will and testament. The grantor does not put assets into the trust during their lifetime. Instead, the trust essentially springs from their probate estate based on the instructions in their will. Learn more about testamentary trusts.