You may have many questions and concerns about the kind of life your loved ones will live once you are gone. One of the ways you can secure their future is planning for their inheritance. It is never too early to write a will or testament that lays out your wishes for how your property should be distributed. However, there are some occasions when a will is not enough, such as when you doubt your beneficiaries’ abilities to manage resources. If that describes your circumstances, you should consider a spendthrift trust.
As is the case with any other trust fund, a spendthrift trust is managed by trustees. However, it has another important factor regarding the distribution of funds. To better understand what it is, check out the following post:
What Is a Spendthrift Trust and How Does It Differ from an Ordinary Trust Fund?
A spendthrift trust is a trust account overseen by a trustee, such as an individual or corporate trustee, that controls the assets you leave, including hiring an asset management company, perhaps one structured as a registered investment advisor, to invest the trust’s money, after you’ve made the trust irrevocable or died. The beneficiary is forbidden from spending the money before he or she actually receives distributions and the trustee has the authority to determine what payments are necessary according to the trust agreement. Read more at The Balance…
We can probably say that a spendthrift trust goes the extra mile to ensure that the beneficiaries do not misuse your assets or get too excited about getting additional income and end up wasting it all.
Apart from enabling your beneficiaries to manage the assets properly, you can also create the trust with provisions that will protect their inheritance from creditors, as explained in the following post:
Spendthrift Clauses Can Protect Your Trust Benefits
As we know, creditors will do nearly anything to get their bills paid. Anything that you have, they will try to get. Yet, anything that you don’t have, but expect to receive later, they may try to get as well to satisfy outstanding debts or judgments.
Trust Beneficiaries
A common scenario involves someone who is the beneficiary of a trust. If you are the beneficiary of a trust, you may not be entitled to use, spend, invest, or see a single nickel of money today (or any time in the near future). But at some point, according to trust documents, you will be entitled to the trust property or money. And just having that right is worth something. Read more at David Toback…
Finding out about the provisions for spendthrift trusts will help you make wise choices about the trust management options available to you.
To get a still clearer picture of why you should consider creating a spendthrift trust and its advantages, check out the following post:
Advantages of Spendthrift Trusts
The following is a list of some of the advantages of a spendthrift trust:
- A spendthrift trust is a good way to provide lifetime income or financial support to a beneficiary that lacks the ability to manage money or property. Depending on the heir, it may be a good idea to avoid leaving a lump sum inheritance.
- A spendthrift trust can be a way to protect the assets of a beneficiary that has claims against their property and income due to lawsuits, alimony, medical bills, and other unpaid debts.
- The beneficiary of a spendthrift trust is prohibited from selling, assigning, transferring or pledging the trust assets so it provides the grantor or settlor some assurance that the beneficiary’s financial needs may be met for a longer period of time. Read more at Penny Born…
Spendthrift trusts are an ingenious way of implementing your management skills even after you are gone. By doing so, the inheritance you provide may last longer than you ever anticipated.
As with all estate planning matters, it is best to get a lawyer to assist you to ensure that all details are properly handled. This will protect your beneficiaries once you’re no longer around to do so.
At Meek Law Firm, our education and experience in Estate Planning and Administration guarantees a worry-free future for your beneficiaries. Contact attorney Jonathan Meek today to discuss your needs. Call (704) 848-6335 or use the contact form on our website to schedule a consultation appointment. We look forward to hearing from you.