For My Children

Protecting Your Child's Inheritance

Creating an Estate Plan that is tailored to you and your family allows you to plan for unexpected circumstances. Protecting your children from others is possible by safeguarding their inheritance and, if appropriate, you can give them control over investing and spending.

Our child may be successful and wise with their money; however, even a financially responsible child can find themselves in a situation that would expose their assets to unexpected obligations.

Bad things can happen to good people at any time.

Below is a table sharing some of the most common concerns clients share with us regarding protecting their children's inheritance from others and the ways in which a well-designed Estate Plan can address these concerns.

How a Well-Designed Estate Plan Can Protect Your Children's Inheritance From Others

Concern

How Your Estate Plan Can Help

Divorce

  • Maintain the inheritance for your family’s use alone
  • Protect any inheritance you leave so it is not subject to division in a divorce
  • Prevent an ex-spouse from having access to inherited funds

Car Accidents / Lawsuits

  • With car accidents being so common, reduce exposure from an inheritance paying a settlement or judgment
  • Safeguard an inheritance from liabilities for a beneficiary who is underinsured
  • Protect your family from others in an increasingly litigious society

Creditors / Collections / Money Judgments

  • Maintain the inheritance as a financial safety net through a difficult time
  • Keep the inheritance from being subject to collection efforts or money judgments

Financial Predators

  • Shield children from being targeted by the ill-intentioned when they receive a large inheritance (i.e., scams and schemes)
  • Avoid making your estate public record, which can expose a newly wealthy beneficiary through bypassing Probate
  • Ensure a big-hearted child will not be taken advantage of because of their generous nature

Bankruptcy / Foreclosure

  • Safeguard an inheritance so it is not available in a bankruptcy proceeding
  • Provide protected financial resources that enable your child the option to rebuild

High Liability Careers / Business Owners

  • Protections given to a child in a higher liability profession (e.g., doctors, lawyers, etc.) from exposure to claims
  • Insulate financial resources left to business owners that must be paid if the business fails due to personal guarantees commonly signed for the operation of the business 
  • Preserve assets inherited by commercial property owners who are subject to slip and fall cases, the most common personal injury suit filed

Wealth / Affluence / Taxes

  • Provide estate tax planning options to already wealthy children so an inheritance is not taxed repeatedly
  • Divide your estate among multiple generations to save on income taxes by using younger beneficiaries in lower tax brackets
  • Preserve double step-up for capital gains taxes so more of your estate gets to your loved ones instead of the IRS 

My Ex-Spouse / Biological Parent

  • Ensure control stays within the hands of your family members or people you trust
  • Keep information regarding your child’s inheritance private
  • Protect your child from being manipulated by another parent

Medical Expenses

  • Prevent an inheritance from impacting monthly premiums, high deductibles, and qualification for assistance in this uncertain health insurance environment
  • Protect the inheritance from significant medical debt due to extended hospital stays, medications and therapy, and treatment for children with chronic illnesses

Student Loans

  • Plan to support your child’s education without subjecting an inheritance to student loan debt (Student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy)
  • Ensure the inheritance can be used to help your child get started in life not simply garnished or liquidated to cover outstanding student loans
  • Safely incorporate gifts or an inheritance for children and grandchildren in planning without risking financial aid qualification or recovery for student debt

Taking all of these concerns into account when creating an Estate Plan will provide you with peace of mind. Through planning, you know you have done everything within your control to protect your children from unexpected occurrences and have created financial safety for your family. Bad things happen to good people every day, but your Estate Plan can be there when you cannot.

Learn More About Protecting Your Child's Inheritance

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