How to Keep Money in the Family With an Inheritance Trust

A family financial legacy provides security for children, grandchildren, and even future generations beyond. Protecting that legacy and keeping it in the family is one of the most important estate planning goals for many individuals. An inheritance trust is a flexible and reliable strategy for accomplishing this critical goal. With help from our experienced estate planning and trust lawyers at Asset Protection & Elder Law of Georgia, you can establish an inheritance trust to protect and preserve your family legacy.

What Is an Inheritance Trust?

The term inheritance trust applies to a trust that is drafted for the unique circumstances of the grantor (person creating the trust), to protect and distribute the grantor’s assets to beneficiaries in a controlled and purposeful way. There are many different specific goals that can be served by an inheritance trust. The trust may be revocable or irrevocable, depending on the grantor’s situation and distribution goals.

An inheritance trust is often preferable to leaving assets to beneficiaries through a direct inheritance in a will, because the trust can bypass legal hurdles like probate, while making certain the beneficiaries receive their inheritance securely and efficiently. In addition, there is no control over how assets received through a will are spent, distributed, or disbursed by the beneficiary. An inheritance trust provides the grantor with control over distribution through the terms established for the trust.

Establishing an Inheritance Trust

An inheritance trust is a special legal structure established by a customized, written legal document executed by the grantor. The trust instrument, also called the trust document, or simply the trust, names the beneficiaries who benefit from distributions from the trust. In the document, the grantor names a trustee, who is a fiduciary responsible for implementing the terms of the trust and distributing the assets according to the terms specified in the trust instrument.

A grantor wishing to establish an inheritance trust begins by talking with a skilled estate planning and trust attorney, to establish the grantor’s goals and wishes for distribution of the family legacy. After those details are clear, the attorney drafts a trust document to create the trust and implement the grantor’s goals. The attorney also helps with ensuring that the trust is funded in the proper manner.

How an Inheritance Trust Protects Your Family Legacy

The terms of an inheritance trust protect and preserve your family legacy, so your children, grandchildren, and future generations benefit from your lifelong efforts to build financial security for your loved ones. The beneficiaries receive distributions as detailed by the trust document, which control how and when assets are distributed by the trustee, thereby providing guidance in the use of the inheritance. These terms enable you (the grantor of the trust) to avoid depletion of your legacy in many ways, including (but not limited to):

• Avoiding claims by creditors and certain types of liability
• Protecting against claims by a former spouse of an adult child following a divorce
• Providing for ultimate passage of the legacy to grandchildren and future generations
• Controlling the purposes of expenditures, to avoid waste, irresponsible spending, access by dishonorable persons, and other risks to inherited assets, such as drug or alcohol addiction or gambling, while giving your beneficiaries access to the trust principal and income under specific purposeful conditions
• Minimizing potential estate taxes

A properly drafted and funded inheritance trust can maintain privacy by avoiding the probate process, which also saves unnecessary expenses and time-consuming legal processes. Your attorney drafts your inheritance trust to address your unique circumstances and those of your individual beneficiaries, in order to protect and preserve assets for future financial security and build on the legacy for future generations and goals.

A Complete Georgia Estate Plan

An inheritance trust is not, by itself, a complete estate plan. The trust is a central document in the set of documents that comprises a complete plan. Other documents are essential to protecting you and your loved ones in the future.

At Asset Protection & Elder Law of Georgia, we work closely with our clients to ensure that all their goals, wishes, and needs are served by the documents in their estate plan. Before we help you create an inheritance trust, we make certain that approach is the most appropriate strategy for your circumstances.

Talk with an Experienced Georgia Trust Attorney

Our Cartersville estate planning practice at Asset Protection & Elder Law of Georgia focuses on helping clients identify and accomplish their estate planning goals by determining the right approach for their personal and financial circumstances.

We serve clients throughout the communities northwest of Atlanta, including in Bartow County, Cobb County, Cherokee County, Gordon County, Floyd County and Paulding County. To schedule a consultation, contact us through our online form.