This is Part 2 of my previous LISTEN TO LAWRENCE LETTER (December 6, 2022 Issue 96)
CLIENT QUESTION:
How do we keep our estate away from our son-in-law?
MY RESPONSE:
A FAMILY PROTECTION TRUST will give your daughter the benefit of her inheritance but ensure that your son-in-law will get nothing. While there are variations on this theme, the bottom line is that your daughter’s inheritance will go into a trust for her benefit and then, upon her death, it will pass to her children or to anyone else you desire. Your daughter can be the trustee of the trust and can be given the authority to take income and principal out for herself, subject to the consent of a co-trustee. The co-trustee can be someone very friendly to her (rubber stamper) or someone stricter. Your daughter can also be given the right to change her co-trustee at any time for any reason (she cannot pick her husband) or you may not give her this right.
With this trust you can guarantee that your daughter will benefit from your estate and your son-in-law will get nothing. Most of my clients do not make the terms of this trust too strict but design it so that their child or children will have a tool to protect themselves in case of divorce someday. “Sorry honey, my trust assets cannot be split in a divorce.” This is what I have in my will for my children and is now one of the most popular estate planning tools used today.
Oh, by the way, this works to protect your estate from your daughter-in-law
too! 😊
If you have more questions about a FAMILY PROTECTION TRUST, send them to me and I will answer them in this forum. If you want to incorporate this into your estate plan, make an appointment with us to discuss it further.
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