You’ve heard it before and we’ll say it again: money doesn’t grow on trees. You’ve earned those assets with years of hard work, and you’ve also earned the right to leave them, upon your passing, as you choose.

Proactive asset planning, such as creating an inheritance trust, is the only way to ensure that your hard-earned assets are protected after your death. Guarantee that your assets are passed on to those you intended, rather than those you didn’t. Creating an inheritance trust is one of the best ways to do so.

What is an Inheritance Trust?

If you are looking to leave assets for a beneficiary such as your child, grandchild, niece, or nephew, the best way to ensure doing so is with an inheritance trust. Setting up such a trust can be beneficial to you and your loved ones for a number of reasons, including:

• The assets can be protected from their spouse, even in the event of a divorce.

• The assets can be protected from creditors, such as a lawsuit.

• It ensures the assets are given to your preferred people, rather than in-laws or whoever else.

Let’s say you’ve decided to leave $250,000 dollars to your daughter upon your death. While you love her dearly, you always recognize that she doesn’t always make the best financial decisions. You’re concerned that within a year the money will be gone, as she travels around the world.

An inheritance trust allows you to parcel out the money to your daughter as you see best. This includes giving the money a little bit at a time, or setting up certain criteria that must be met in order to inherit the funds (such as graduating from college).

We recommend How to Leave an Inheritance to Your Kids for more guidance on how to communicate inheritance expectations effectively.

Benefits of a Trust

Depending on how the trust is set up, other general benefits include:

• Avoiding taxes
• Avoiding probate
• Protecting your assets & estate
• Restricting funds for particular purpose (like education)
• Giving generously to charities

Make the Best Decisions for You

Putting an inheritance in place before it’s too late is the only way to ensure your hard-earned assets go to the right place at the right time. We recommend sitting down with a professional who specialized in Estate Planning.

~ Ronald Morton