At Silverman Law Office, PLLC, we are trust lawyers with more than 20 years of experience guiding clients through complex matters.
If you want to control how your property passes to the next generation, a trust can accomplish what a will alone cannot. The right structure depends on your assets, your family, and your goals for taxes and privacy. Silverman Law Office, PLLC has drafted and administered trusts for Montana families for more than 20 years. Our Billings, MT trust lawyers design each document around the people it is meant to protect. Schedule a consultation to start the conversation.
Trust Lawyers Billings, MT
A trust is a legal arrangement in which one person, the trustee, holds and manages property for the benefit of others according to written instructions. Property placed in a properly funded trust generally passes outside probate, which saves time, keeps family finances private, and lets you control when and how beneficiaries receive what you leave them.
A trust attorney designs that arrangement, drafts the document, and moves your assets into it. The work doesn’t end at signing. We advise trustees on their duties, update trusts when life changes, and administer them after a death. For families in Billings, MT, we handle everything from a first revocable trust to disputes over one created decades ago.
Types of Trust Cases We Handle in Billings
No two families hold their wealth the same way. A rancher with land and equipment needs a different structure than a retiree with investment accounts. Our trust attorneys in Billings build, maintain, and defend the full range of trust arrangements.
- Revocable living trusts. The workhorse of most estate plans, a living trust lets you keep full control of your property during life and pass it privately at death. You can amend or revoke it at any time while you have capacity.
- Irrevocable trusts. These give up some control in exchange for benefits a revocable trust cannot offer. Families use them to protect assets for future generations, reduce estate tax exposure, and plan for long-term care costs.
- Special needs trusts. A carefully drafted trust can provide for a loved one with a disability without jeopardizing government benefits. We structure these to supplement, rather than replace, the support programs a beneficiary relies on.
- Wills. Every trust-based plan still needs one. A pour-over will catch property left outside the trust and direct it back in, and it is where guardians for minor children are named.
- Trust funding. A trust only governs what it owns. We retitle real estate with clear deeds, move accounts, and coordinate beneficiary designations so nothing important is left behind.
- Trust administration. When a grantor dies or loses capacity, the successor trustee takes over notices, inventories, tax filings, and distributions. We guide trustees through each obligation so the trust does what it was written to do.
- Trustee guidance and defense. Trustees owe strict duties to beneficiaries, and honest mistakes can still draw accusations. We advise trustees on their responsibilities and defend them when beneficiaries challenge a trust or its management.
- Litigation. Contests, removal actions, and accounting disputes can consume an estate. Our probate litigation attorneys in Billings handle these matters in court when negotiation falls short.
- Trust amendments and restatements. Marriage, divorce, new grandchildren, and changing assets are all reasons to keep an estate plan current. We review existing trusts and update them before outdated terms cause problems.
Why Choose Silverman Law Office, PLLC as My Trust Lawyer in Billings, MT?
Plenty of firms draft trusts. Fewer also administer them, defend them in court, and understand the tax rules that shape them.
Tax Training That Shapes Better Trusts
Trusts sit where property law meets tax law. Joel Silverman, who founded our firm, earned an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of San Diego School of Law and has spent over 20 years advising Montana families and businesses on estate planning, tax, and related matters. He is admitted before the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in addition to the State Bar of Montana, and he holds memberships in the American Bar Association and the Montana Trial Lawyers Association.
One Firm From Drafting Through Administration
Our firm has drafted, revised, and administered Montana family trusts for more than two decades, and clients have shared their experiences working with us through every stage of that process. We serve clients in Billings and across Yellowstone County, and when a trust question grows into a broader plan, our work as an estate planning lawyer in Billings, MT covers wills, powers of attorney, and the other documents a complete plan requires. And because our practice includes litigation, we can protect a trust in court instead of referring the fight elsewhere.
Understanding Trust Cases
Key Trust Concepts and the People Involved
Every trust involves the same basic roles, whatever its purpose. Knowing these terms makes the planning conversation much easier.
- Grantor. The person who creates and funds the trust is sometimes called the settlor. In a revocable trust, the grantor usually serves as the first trustee, too.
- Trustee. The person or institution that manages trust property must follow the document’s terms. Deciding who should serve is one of the most consequential choices in the plan.
- Successor trustee. The backup steps in when the original trustee dies or can no longer act. This transition happens without court involvement.
- Beneficiaries. The people or organizations the trust exists to benefit, whether now or after the grantor’s death.
- Funding. The act of transferring property into the trust. An unfunded trust is just paper; it keeps nothing out of probate.
- Revocable and irrevocable. A revocable trust can be changed or undone during the grantor’s life. An irrevocable trust generally cannot be revoked, which is precisely what makes it useful for protection and tax planning.
What Are Important Aspects of a Trust Case?
The document itself is only part of the job. These are the pieces that determine whether a trust actually works.
- Complete funding. Deeds, account transfers, and assignments must all be finished, not just planned. We track each asset until it is inside the trust.
- Tax treatment. The relationship between trusts and taxes affects income reporting during life and what beneficiaries owe later. Getting the classification right at the start avoids expensive surprises.
- Coordination with the full plan. A trust must work alongside the essential documents in an estate plan, including wills, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations. Conflicting instructions create the disputes that trusts are meant to prevent.
- Long-term care planning. For older clients, trust decisions often connect to elder care questions like Medicaid eligibility and nursing home costs. Timing matters here more than almost anywhere else.
- Avoiding common errors. Naming the wrong trustee, skipping funding, and forgetting updates are among the estate planning mistakes we see most often in documents drafted elsewhere.
What Is the Trust Case Timeline?
Creating a trust moves faster than most clients expect, and there is rarely a right time other than before you need it. A typical engagement follows this path:
- Initial consultation. We learn about your family, your property, and what you want to happen, then recommend a structure.
- Design and drafting. We prepare the trust and supporting documents, usually within a few weeks, depending on complexity.
- Review and signing. You review everything with us, ask questions, and execute the documents with the formalities Montana requires.
- Funding. We transfer real estate, accounts, and other assets into the trust. This step takes the longest and matters the most.
- Ongoing review. We recommend revisiting the plan after major life events or every few years, whichever comes first.
What Should You Bring to Your Trust Consultation?
You don’t need a complete file before meeting with a trust lawyer, but a few items make the first conversation far more productive.
- A list of what you own, roughly what it’s worth, and how each item is titled
- Deeds for any real estate, including ranch, farm, or mineral interests
- Recent statements for retirement accounts and life insurance, with beneficiary designations
- Any existing wills, trusts, or powers of attorney
- Names and contact information for the trustees and beneficiaries you have in mind
We will walk through your goals, explain which type of trust fits, and give you an honest view of the costs and steps involved.
What Are Important Montana Legal Resources for Trust Cases?
Trust law in Montana is set out in public statutes, and several state offices maintain records and information that come up during planning and administration. Start with these.
- The Montana Code Annotated publishes the state’s trust and estate statutes, including the Montana Uniform Trust Code, under Title 72.
- The Montana Judicial Branch provides public guidance on estate planning documents, probate, and related long-term planning topics.
- The State Law Library of Montana offers free help researching statutes, court rules, and legal questions.
- The Clerk of District Court in Yellowstone County maintains records for court proceedings involving Billings-area estates and trusts.
- The Office of Vital Records issues the certified death certificates that a successor trustee needs to take control of trust assets.
Reach Out to Silverman Law Office, PLLC to Schedule a Consultation
A trust protects the people you name in it, but only if it is built and maintained correctly. If you are ready to sit down with a Billings trust attorney, the next step is simple. Contact us to schedule a consultation today. We’ll explain your options in plain language, answer every question, and outline the next steps before you commit to anything.
