Are your kids Trust-Worthy?

“Even middle-class folks can benefit from trusts when it comes to estate planning.  That’s because children under the age of 18 can’t directly inherit more than a small amount of money,” and when they reach 18 they can inherit everything, which is a scary proposition when you think about your college aged child inheriting a lump some of money.

The above quote was from an article in the WSJ, which you can read here.

The article goes on to talk about how setting up a revocable living trust as a better alternative that allows them to exert more control over their assets once they are gone.  As, Michigan estate planning attorneys who work with living trusts on a daily basis, one of the things we often see is that our clients like to utilize revocable living trusts to delay when their children inherit their money.  For example, instead of inheriting outright at age 18, maybe a distribution of 1/3 at 25, 1/3 at 30, and remainder at 35 makes more sense since the child will be more mature and able to handle the money at later ages.

Planning for parents with minor or college age children is one of the focuses of our Michigan estate planning law firm.  Give us a call if you have any questions.

-Christopher J. Berry, Esq.
Metro Detroit Estate Planning Attorney