Trusts

Trust Attorney in Fredericksburg, VA

Personalized Trust Planning for Families Throughout Spotsylvania & Stafford Counties

Founded in 1993 by Stacey N. Strentz, Strentz Family Law Group is a woman-owned law firm that helps families in Fredericksburg, Virginia, put practical plans in place for the people and assets they care about most. Our practice brings together family law and estate planning, which means we understand how divorce, blended families, and custody arrangements can shape what a trust needs to accomplish.

Trust planning sits alongside wills, powers of attorney, and advance medical directives as part of a complete estate plan. We keep the focus here on trusts, but we work with clients on the full picture when their situation calls for it.

Ready to talk through your trust planning options? Call our Fredericksburg office at (540) 274-0162 to schedule a consultation.

What a Trust Can Do for Your Family

Trusts aren’t only for high-net-worth families. A well-structured trust can help anyone avoid the cost and delay of probate, provide for a family member with a disability without disrupting their public benefits eligibility, or hold assets for children who aren’t yet ready to manage an inheritance on their own.

Probate administration rules vary across Virginia’s circuit court clerks’ offices, and qualifying as an executor requires scheduling a formal appointment at the appropriate court. Proactive trust planning can help families avoid much of that process for the assets placed in the trust.

How We Approach Trust Planning

As a woman-owned firm, we take time to understand the personal circumstances behind each matter before developing a legal approach. Trust planning involves real decisions about people you love, and we believe clients deserve an advocate who listens before offering a plan.

We combine legal knowledge with genuine care to help clients understand their options and make those decisions with confidence. We don’t offer one-size-fits-all documents. We ask questions first.

What Sets Us Apart

Personalized Legal Guidance
We provide tailored legal strategies and thoughtful support designed around your unique needs, goals, and future.
Dedicated Client Relationships
We build trusted relationships through attentive service, clear communication, and a commitment to every client.
Compassionate Trusted Counsel
We offer experienced guidance with care and understanding during life’s most important transitions and decisions.
Protecting Your Future
We help safeguard your family, assets, and legacy with personalized solutions built for your tomorrow.

Types of Trusts Used in Estate Planning

Different trusts serve different purposes. Understanding the main categories helps you have a more informed conversation with a trust attorney about which structure fits your goals.

Revocable Living Trust

A revocable living trust lets you retain control of your assets during your lifetime. You can modify or revoke it as your circumstances change. After your death, the trust directs how those assets pass to your beneficiaries, typically without going through probate.

Irrevocable Trust

An irrevocable trust generally cannot be changed once it’s established. Families sometimes use this structure to remove assets from the grantor’s taxable estate or to place them beyond the reach of creditors. The tradeoff is a loss of direct control over the transferred assets.

Testamentary Trust

A testamentary trust is created through the terms of a will and takes effect after the will is probated. Because it operates through the probate process, it doesn’t carry the same probate-avoidance benefit as a living trust, but it can still be a useful tool for managing assets for younger beneficiaries.

Special Needs Trust

A special needs trust holds assets for a beneficiary with disabilities in a way that can preserve eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, or other needs-based public benefits. Structuring this type of trust correctly is important, since an improperly drafted document can affect the benefits it’s meant to protect.

Trust Law in Virginia

Virginia has adopted the Uniform Trust Code, codified in Title 64.2, Chapter 7 of the Code of Virginia. That statute governs how trusts are created, administered, and terminated in the state. The applicable law shapes the duties a trustee owes to beneficiaries, the rights beneficiaries hold, and the procedures available when disputes arise.

One practical provision worth knowing: under Virginia law, a trustee may terminate a trust valued under $250,000 without court approval, after notifying the qualified beneficiaries, if the trust’s value no longer justifies the cost of continued administration. This rule can matter years after a trust is funded, when asset values shift or distributions reduce what remains.

When Family Circumstances Shape the Trust

Some families need trust planning that accounts for more than a straightforward asset transfer. Military families connected to Quantico or Dahlgren, blended families navigating prior relationships and stepchildren, and clients whose assets span multiple states often need estate planning documents that work together in specific ways. Because we practice family law alongside estate planning, we’re familiar with how those circumstances interact with trust structure.

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Our Satisfied Clients

At Strentz Family Law Group, your satisfaction is our priority! See for yourself what our clients have to say about working with us.

"She took the time to listen to and understand the unique details and nuances of my complicated case and developed a successful strategy to best represent me throughout the entire process."

Stacey Strentz is a shining example of a professional, knowledgeable, and compassionate divorce attorney. She took the time ...

M C.
"She took over my extremely complicated divorce and custody case that had dragged on for 7 years and obtained an extremely favorable outcome for my children and"

I can not say enough good things about Stacey Strentz and the team at Strentz Family Law Group. She took over my extremely ...

S G.

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Serving Fredericksburg, VA and the Surrounding Counties

Our office is located near the local family courts in Fredericksburg and just minutes from Routes 1 and 95, making us accessible to clients throughout Spotsylvania County, Stafford County, and King George County. The City of Fredericksburg Circuit Court is the local court of general jurisdiction for civil matters, including trust proceedings under Virginia’s Uniform Trust Code, which grants the circuit court jurisdiction over matters involving trustees and beneficiaries.

Whether you’re starting your estate plan for the first time or revisiting a trust you set up years ago, we’re here to help you think through what your family actually needs.

Talk to a Trust Lawyer in Fredericksburg

We offer payment plans to make legal guidance more manageable, along with virtual consultations for clients who prefer to meet remotely. To discuss your trust planning goals with our team, call Strentz Family Law Group at (540) 274-0162 to schedule a consultation.

A Trust Works Best as Part of a Complete Plan

A trust generally works alongside a will, a financial power of attorney, and an advance medical directive rather than replacing them. Each document serves a distinct function, and gaps between them can create problems your family has to sort out later.

One of the most common gaps is funding. A trust only controls the assets placed in it, which means accounts, real estate, and other property must be properly retitled into the trust’s name, or the trust named as a beneficiary where retitling isn’t available. A trust document that isn’t funded is largely a piece of paper. We can walk clients through the funding process as part of the overall planning conversation.

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