Who gets what is important, but it is only the beginning. A thoughtful Estate Plan also considers how an inheritance should be managed, when it should be distributed, and who should be responsible for carrying out your wishes.
.png)
Every beneficiary is different. Your Estate Plan can reflect how and when an inheritance should be received and whether additional management or protection makes sense.
Some beneficiaries may be ready to receive an inheritance directly and manage it responsibly on their own.
Another beneficiary may benefit from receiving assets over time rather than all at once.
A trust can provide structure when an inheritance should be managed for a young person, someone with special needs, or another beneficiary who may need additional protection.
For parents of minor children, an Estate Plan has two very different responsibilities: deciding who should care for them and deciding who should manage what you leave for them.
Your plan gives you an opportunity to identify the person you would want to provide day-to-day care, stability, guidance, and a home for your children.
Your Estate Plan can give someone you trust responsibility for managing assets for a child's benefit until the time and circumstances you choose.
The person caring for your child and the person managing the child's inheritance do not necessarily have to be the same person.
Depending on your plan, people you choose may someday care for children, manage trust assets, serve as successor trustee, carry out instructions, or help family members understand what happens next.
Choose people who can manage property, follow detailed instructions, make difficult decisions, and put the people you love first.
The right person should be able to understand your instructions, communicate with family members, and ask for help when the plan raises questions.
Families do not always fit neatly onto a legal form. The planning process should begin with understanding the people involved and what you want the plan to accomplish.
Providing for a spouse while preserving an inheritance for children from a prior relationship may require especially clear instructions.
A well-intended inheritance may create unintended consequences when someone relies on needs-based assistance or needs additional management and support.
Sometimes the goal is not simply to distribute an inheritance, but to help preserve what that inheritance was intended to accomplish.
Because your family should be left more than an inheritance—they should be left with a plan.
Special CircumstancesThe value of your Estate Plan is having it work when your family needs it. We help you build the plan, keep it current, and help the people you trust carry it out when the time comes.
