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Should you use incentive trusts in your estate plan?

On Behalf of | Jun 25, 2021 | Estate Planning |

You’ve worked hard to accumulate your wealth. As a result, it might be difficult for you to think about how you’re going to leave those assets to your loved ones. This might be especially true if you’re concerned about how your loved ones are going to use those resources and whether their inheritance will negative affect the way they live their lives.

Is an incentive trust right for you and your loved ones?

One way that you can retain control over your assets and how your loved ones live is to create incentive trusts. Here, you place certain assets into a trust with a named beneficiary. That beneficiary then receives periodic payments from the trust, but the full release of trust assets are oftentimes conditioned upon an event.

For example, say you have an adult child who you want to support through your estate plan, but he or she has a history of unwise financial decisions.  You could condition the release of trust assets upon his or her completion of a financial literacy or financial planning course of your choosing. This would better ensure that your loved one’s inheritance isn’t squandered away.

Your options for conditions on this kind of trust are nearly limitless, too. You can require that a loved one get married, maintain employment for a specified period of time, have a child, or complete some sort of addiction treatment program before the release of assets. Be creative to obtain the estate plan that you want.

Know your estate planning options

We know that thinking about death and leaving your family behind is tough. But we find that a lot of people put their fears to rest with the creation of a thorough estate plan that suits not only their wishes, but also the needs of their loved ones. The first step, though, is simply knowing what estate planning options are at your disposal. To learn more about those options and what they can do for you and your loved ones, consider reaching out to a legal team that is adept at this area of the law.

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