Parents typically love all their children equally, but this doesn't blind them to their weaknesses. When it's time to sit down with your estate planning attorney and devise your estate plan, you need to be fully transparent about your proposed heirs' abilities to...
Trust Administration
What are the downsides to an incentive trust?
There are many positive reasons to use an incentive trust. You can encourage your heirs to be successful, for instance, and you can ensure that they only get the money when they are mature and responsible enough to handle it.However, before deciding to use this kind...
Can physical assets go into a trust?
When most people think about the assets in a trust, they consider monetary assets. Trusts can be used to pass money down to heirs while still retaining some control over that money. For instance, the trustee who administers the account could be instructed to pay out a...
Reasons a trustee could get removed
It is critical to take your time when naming a trustee, picking someone you know will do a good job. Perhaps your first inclination is to pick one of your adult children. Maybe you have another relative that you can count on. Perhaps you want to use a professional. No...
You must be very sure that you want an irrevocable trust
You're thinking of setting up an irrevocable trust for your heirs. You're interested in a multitude of benefits, from the tax advantages -- which you do not get with a revocable trust -- to the control it gives you over how your heirs get and use their money.These...
A spendthrift trust can protect heirs from their own habits
You love your children, but you know that they're not great with money. Growing up rather wealthy, they take money for granted, not realizing how hard you had to work for it.You're worried that leaving your wealth to them directly is a recipe for disaster. You're...