Living Trust and Will - any recs or things we should remember or include/think about?

[Anonymous]

Since these forums often have very helpful advice - wondering if anyone has any input, advice, reminders of things we should consider when creating a new equivocal living trust? We do not have minor children - they are college age. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since these forums often have very helpful advice - wondering if anyone has any input, advice, reminders of things we should consider when creating a new equivocal living trust? We do not have minor children - they are college age. Thank you.

Op here - also any advice on setting up a family foundation? I read we would not be able to attend the events that the foundation purchased tickets for as the foundation owners? Is this true?

[Anonymous]

Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since these forums often have very helpful advice - wondering if anyone has any input, advice, reminders of things we should consider when creating a new equivocal living trust? We do not have minor children - they are college age. Thank you.

Op here - also any advice on setting up a family foundation? I read we would not be able to attend the events that the foundation purchased tickets for as the foundation owners? Is this true?

That is true. It is a private benefit and the foundation will lose its tax exempt status.

Really, what you need to do is determine your goals. After you determine your goals, then you can worry about trusts and foundations and other tools that will help you achieve your goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

We did something similar for our kids. We also made the release of those funds contingent on graduation from SOME level of higher learning. We were not specific that it had to be a 4 year undergraduate degree, but they have to complete some post-high school education. It sounds like you may be too far along for that, but you do never know.

Other advice I would add is to make a list of how you want non-financial assets and "sentimental" items (wedding rings, jewelry, etc.) that may be of value allocated. I was the executor of my parents will and while my sibling and I thankfully did not fight about anything, he would have backed and filled a dumpster up to empty the house and I was more sentimental. If there is something specific (i.e. I would like Child X to have the Dining Room set and Child Y to have the Mahogany Buffet) you would not like to see donated, make it clear. Write it down. Talk through this list with your kids and make your wishes known so it's out there and transparent, and do it while you are of clear mind and body. This makes things infinitely easier on everyone. My parents always said, "We'll leave that to you to figure out," but just decide for your children. Grief is such a long, complicated path, just make it as easy as possible on them.

[Anonymous]

Think about the scenario in which one of you passes away and the other remarries. What happens to the assets? Do they become joint property with the new spouse? What happens then if the remaining party from the original marriage dies, leaving the new spouse as a widow/widower? What is protected for your children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

You can protect the assets at any age by leaving them as trust assets- your beneficiary will inherit them but they’ll still belong to the trust. So a spouse will never have any entitlement to that asset.

Make sure you actually fund your trust. So many people create one but never follow through we re-titling the assets into the name of the trust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

Very good advice. 35 is young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

You can protect the assets at any age by leaving them as trust assets- your beneficiary will inherit them but they’ll still belong to the trust. So a spouse will never have any entitlement to that asset.

Make sure you actually fund your trust. So many people create one but never follow through we re-titling the assets into the name of the trust.

We did this. We have an only child who will inherit our entire estate, so we set up a trust to ensure her assets are protected from any future partner. And I second what the poster above me said about funding the trust. It feels like a lot of homework, but make sure you do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

You can protect the assets at any age by leaving them as trust assets- your beneficiary will inherit them but they’ll still belong to the trust. So a spouse will never have any entitlement to that asset.

Make sure you actually fund your trust. So many people create one but never follow through we re-titling the assets into the name of the trust.

We did this. We have an only child who will inherit our entire estate, so we set up a trust to ensure her assets are protected from any future partner. And I second what the poster above me said about funding the trust. It feels like a lot of homework, but make sure you do it.

Op here. How do you fund the trust? What do we need to do to fund it? What steps? Do we need to change the title of house and properties to the trust? Will the lawyer help us do that? What about 401Ks do they go to spouse as beneficiary or to the trust? Sounds like a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

You can protect the assets at any age by leaving them as trust assets- your beneficiary will inherit them but they’ll still belong to the trust. So a spouse will never have any entitlement to that asset.

Make sure you actually fund your trust. So many people create one but never follow through we re-titling the assets into the name of the trust.

We did this. We have an only child who will inherit our entire estate, so we set up a trust to ensure her assets are protected from any future partner. And I second what the poster above me said about funding the trust. It feels like a lot of homework, but make sure you do it.

How do you protect kids' assets from their future spouses? Are they automatically protected if in the trust? Do spouses have accesss or rights to money in trusts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

You can protect the assets at any age by leaving them as trust assets- your beneficiary will inherit them but they’ll still belong to the trust. So a spouse will never have any entitlement to that asset.

Make sure you actually fund your trust. So many people create one but never follow through we re-titling the assets into the name of the trust.

We did this. We have an only child who will inherit our entire estate, so we set up a trust to ensure her assets are protected from any future partner. And I second what the poster above me said about funding the trust. It feels like a lot of homework, but make sure you do it.

Op here. How do you fund the trust? What do we need to do to fund it? What steps? Do we need to change the title of house and properties to the trust? Will the lawyer help us do that? What about 401Ks do they go to spouse as beneficiary or to the trust? Sounds like a lot.

It takes a little legwork. You need to re-title your assets into the name of the trust. I used a real estate attorney for my properties (cost about $350 per property). You can name your trust as beneficiary to your retirement and life insurance accounts. Anything not titled in the name of the trust is still your asset that belongs to you (not the trust). And may need to go through probate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Think about whether you want your kids getting their inheritance all at once. We just set up our wills/trusts and we have kids in their early 20s. We set up a schedule so that they will get 25% immediately, 50% at 30 and remainder at 35. This is except for 401ks where they will get about 1/10th per year (with exceptions and in consideration of tax law changes). They are good kids but didn’t want them to deal with getting $4 million in their 20s.

This. I know people with even later distribution. Lawyer commented it was also a good way to protect assets from an early marriage gone bad. This had never occurred to me.

You can protect the assets at any age by leaving them as trust assets- your beneficiary will inherit them but they’ll still belong to the trust. So a spouse will never have any entitlement to that asset.

Make sure you actually fund your trust. So many people create one but never follow through we re-titling the assets into the name of the trust.

We did this. We have an only child who will inherit our entire estate, so we set up a trust to ensure her assets are protected from any future partner. And I second what the poster above me said about funding the trust. It feels like a lot of homework, but make sure you do it.

How do you protect kids' assets from their future spouses? Are they automatically protected if in the trust? Do spouses have accesss or rights to money in trusts?

The trust owns the assets, not your child(ren). So as long as the asset stays in the name of the trust it’s protected, since your child/children don’t actually own them. Unless their spouse is named as a trust beneficiary they have no rights to those assets.

[Anonymous]

Our estate attorney's office handled retitling our house in the name of our trust. We worked directly with fidelity to make the trust the beneficiary (though we also had some funds as direct beneficiaries, and want to make sure there are access to assets to pay for things before a trust is administered). We also have a 'pour over' will which basically says that anything that is not titled to the trust and does not have a direct beneficiary should be considered part of the trust. The only thing we didn't do was the car, we probably should have titled it jointly to our trust.