Monday, November 15, 2010

Leaving Your Stuff To The Kids & Grandkids

Leaving your estate to your kids and/or grandkids is often a prime objective of many clients we meet with.

Every family situation is different, but in many cases, it often does not make sense that a child or grandchild receives a check from your estate, to do whatever they want with.

Why not? Quite simply, once they receive that check, they have full control over it. That means their their spouse, any creditors that come after them also have potential control over it. What if your child is involved in a lawsuit? What if he or she is in a high risk profession? Bankruptcy proceeding? All of these issues present a critical threat to preserving the inheritance you have left your child or grandchild.

When I help people with their estate plan, I will often hear things like, “my children would never get into trouble.” But the fact is, we just don’t know. One of the most valuable aspects of planning is taking into account a range of possibilities, and then planning for all of them.

At our firm, we can create an asset protection trust for you within your Will that allows your child or grandchild the flexibility to take from the trust when they need it, for things like education, and maintaining their general lifestyle. This mechanism ensures the trust is used for valid purposes only, and isn’t raided by creditors, ex-spouses, the IRS, and litigation.

Most important to you is we can make this planning tool affordable for you, and easy to understand. Let us know if we can assist you or someone you know in this type of planning. Call us today for a complementary consultation at (215) 706-0200.