Building wealth takes time, effort and sacrifice.
Naturally, you want to try to ensure your legacy continues to benefit your loved ones for generations to come. Intergenerational estate planning takes a long-term view, aiming to protect and distribute your assets across multiple generations.
While a will is a crucial part of any estate plan, they are limited as to how they can achieve your estate planning goals.
This is where trusts come in; they can be a flexible and powerful tool to manage your wealth and help ensure its distribution aligns with your wishes.
Indeed, a trust can hold and control assets on behalf of beneficiaries after you, as the grantor, transfer ownership of assets into trust and detail specific instructions for the assets’ management and distribution. The trustee, a person you appoint, then oversees the trust according to your wishes as detailed in the trust itself.
A flexible tool for wealth distribution
Inheriting a large sum of money can be overwhelming, especially for young beneficiaries. Thankfully, trusts can allow you to structure the distribution of assets over time. This can be based on reaching specific ages, completing educational milestones or demonstrating responsible financial management. A trustee can oversee investments and help ensure the inheritance is used wisely.
Did you know that certain trusts can shield assets from creditors?
This can particularly be helpful for beneficiaries who might be vulnerable to lawsuits, divorce, or bad financial decisions as a trust can act as a barrier to ensure the inheritance remains available for the intended beneficiary, and future generations.
Crafting your inter-generational plan
A well-defined trust can prevent confusion and conflict amongst beneficiaries when it clearly outlines your intended distribution plan – helping to minimize potential inheritance disputes.
However, it’s crucial to remember that leveraging trusts for inter-generational estate planning requires careful consideration. That’s why you should identify your goals for each trust you establish. What do you hope to achieve with your estate? Is it minimizing taxes, helping ensure future generations’ financial security or providing for a specific cause?
in sum, trusts are a powerful and flexible tool to effect your intergenerational estate planning.
However, as every family’s situation is unique, consulting an experienced legal team can help determine the most suitable trusts that align with your specific goals and circumstances.
