When putting together a living trust, one of the most important reasons why you may wish to choose such a document is to protect your beneficiaries from themselves. When you think ahead about estate planning, you mostly refer to giving property to your wife or husband, your children or other loved ones in your family after you pass away. However, sometimes those intended beneficiaries may not be able to handle such a large gift.
Minor children will not even be able to own property because they are too young. In these cases, a guardian will be appointed to manage the property until those children reach maturity age. Even in this situation however, an 18-year-old may not be mature enough to handle such a large inheritance. This can make a great opportunity for a living trust.
Most financial experts agree that anyone under age 25 may not be capable of handling an inheritance in one lump sum because they will not be able to manage large amounts of money. Some individuals above age 25 do not make an appropriate outright gift recipient either, including those going through the bankruptcy process, those in questionable marriages, and individuals who are spendthrifts at heart.
Passing on any amount of property or money to these people may be a poor idea. This is when a living trust can become an extremely valuable stage of your estate planning process. This allows you to give your property and your hard earned money to people you care about while still protecting them from themselves.
Revocable living trusts have been a valuable estate planning tool for many years and this is one of the primary reasons why individuals will consider revocable living trusts to begin with.
Discuss your options with the right estate planning lawyer.
