Life is long. Sometimes times are sparse, and sometimes they are plentiful. By the time you get to an advanced age, you hope you will have reached times of plenty. Not just so you can live your golden years out comfortably, but because you want to leave something behind for your family so they have that same chance to thrive.Unfortunately, youth can be reckless and often not giving the future a fair thought. This can leave you worried that if you do leave something behind for your family, they will just waste the opportunity.
If this is a concern when it comes time to plan your estate, you have options to prevent the wasteful use of your inheritance by your heirs. Primary among those options is the creation of a trust. A trust allows you to dictated the conditions upon which the assets of your estate will be distributed, and you can place restrictions on those distributions.
For example, you could appoint a trustee that controls how much certain family members get. If you have a child with a substance abuse problem, you could instruct a trustee to not grant them anything until they got clean. Furthermore, you could also put in place that heirs only get a certain amount from the trust annually. This can be a great option to prevent them from literally “spending it all in one place.”
Trusts are an excellent legal tool when it comes to inheritance. It makes sure that the heirs get a good amount of money, but they don’t get it all at once. It can limit the temptation to take one big lavish vacation or buy a horribly overpriced car. Instead, it helps support them for longer.
If you are starting the estate planning process and believe a trust might be right for your family, contact us today.