When
Juliann Reynolds' husband died of cancer in 1992, she had to decide how to plan
her own estate … Reynolds is one of a growing number of parents who are
requiring their heirs to wait until they are older before they can collect
their inheritances.
When planning for your estate
and what to give to whom, there are tough questions involved and a lot to
consider. How should your heirs receive their inheritance? Will they be responsible
with their inheritance? How do you protect them from financial missteps when
you are no longer here?
Money is both the root of all
evil and yet a most helpful tool when it comes to achieving life goals.
Consequently, consider ensuring that your beneficiaries get enough to help them
with their dreams, but not so much they miss out on learning how to work for
those dreams on their own.
This often requires that you
take great care when structuring the inheritance distribution portion of your
estate plan. According to a recent Reuters
article titled “More heirs wait as wills dole out money
slowly,”
more families are structuring their estates as the title suggests.
The tool of choice, now as ever,
is a trust fund. Indeed, trust funds have been used to keep assets safe for a
younger beneficiary, but that historically meant until their legal maturity at
age 18. More recently, however, with social changes as they are, trusts are
being created to age 30 or beyond. Some trusts are rather specific in their
terms, too. For example, trusts terms may specifically provide for college
expenses, the first house, the first child, and other life milestones.
So, are plans that keep the
whole distribution process at a low, slow boil the way to go?
They are not without their
disadvantages, especially for those who do not want to “rule from the grave” or
those who resent being “ruled from the grave.”
In the end, every family and
every generation is different. Ask yourself: which strategy is most appropriate
for your heirs, assets, and plans? It’s an important angle to review.
For more information and articles on
estate planning and elder law topics, please visit our website
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Reference: Reuters (June
25, 2013) “More heirs wait as wills dole out money
slowly”