Every Parent Sets Out To Be Sure Their Children Understand The World Of Finances & How To Manage Them
The truth is, MANY times these efforts just don’t stick. Even more frightening, is that besides being unwise in handling money, sadly there are often tragic situations where substance abuse, mental problems or partners involved and money is just not respected. Whether or not your children are in this phase of life, a trust is a perfect tool to help children through challenges while maintaining the strength of your assets.
The thing about using a trust is YOU control what happens to its contents, nobody else. You can choose when and how much your children can have by building distributions into the trust. You can also elect a trustee who can manage the assets and be the “bad guy” when decisions must be made when you are no longer around.
Your trust can protect your assets from a spouse’s hands should the marriage fail and a divorce ensues. Also, if you have a special needs child, a trust can support the child’s needs while not disqualifying them from important government benefits.
Usually, a revocable living trust is used allowing you to transfer your assets into it while you are still living and can control what happens.
At the time of your death, assets in the revocable trust pass to your heirs without being submitted to probate. This way, no unnecessary court proceedings that drain assets are necessary. These court proceedings can be expensive AND embarrassing.
Trust laws change frequently. To be sure you are obtaining the advice you need, it is best to secure the help of a personal family attorney.
