19 May
Estate planning is about much more than just deciding who will inherit your assets. It’s about providing protection for your family and loved ones while still allowing you to retain some control over how those assets are used. That’s where trusts can come into play in your estate plan. One popular way to utilize these estate planning vehicles is to incentivize loved ones.
Was to use a trust to motivate loved ones
You don’t have to just hand over your assets to named heirs and beneficiaries. Instead, you can place contingencies on the release of trust assets, which means that you can have a say in how your named beneficiaries behave. This can be important if you have loved ones who are dealing with addiction or financial issues, or it can be used to drive your loved ones toward important life goals.
There are many ways that you can use an incentive trust. For example, you may provide for minimal payments to your loved one with the release of all trust assets only upon graduation from college or completing some sort of substance abuse treatment. Marriage, the birth of a child, or maintaining employment can all be conditions placed on the release of trust assets. You can be as creative as you want here, so long as you stay within ethical and legal bounds.
Create the estate plan that you want
Your presence will be felt long after you’re gone. But what do you want that presence to do? If you want it to be motivating factor for your loved ones to ensure that they are guided by your hand further down the road or to ensure that they don’t squander their inheritance and their life away, then an incentive trust if probably a pretty good option for you. Remember, the estate planning process can be custom tailored to suit your needs, so don’t hesitate to speak with a legal professional if you think that you could benefit from assistance in developing the estate plan that is right for you.