As you contemplate your estate-planning process, one potentially useful tool you might ponder is a spendthrift trust. While not everyone will need to include this estate-planning tool, those who do need one find them to be a good way to protect beneficiaries from their baser inclinations.
Let’s examine below what a spendthrift trust will do.
Spendthrift trusts can put the brakes on profligate spending
If you have a son, daughter, grandchild or another beneficiary who never learned to live within their means, this might be just the tool for you to employ. For those inclined to burn money at an alarming rate, spendthrift trusts disallow unfettered access to the trust’s principal. Your beneficiaries will only be able to receive pre-determined draws from the interest on the trust. You can schedule these disbursements annually, semi-annually, quarterly or however else you choose.
They protect the trust’s funds from being diverted by creditors
If your beneficiary or their spouse tends to rack up major credit card debt, at some point, the legacy you leave them could wind up in their creditors’ hands. If you want to prevent that, spendthrift trusts are a good way to do it. Of course, once the disbursements have been paid out, any proceeds become fair game to creditors.
For substance abusers, they could be a lifeline
You know all too well your beneficiary’s fondness for overindulging in drink and drugs. You would never want to leave them free access to an inheritance that could be their undoing and lead to an overdose or other fatal event like a DWI crash. By structuring disbursements strategically in a spendthrift trust, you can make sure to leave them enough to always have a roof over their heads but not enough to do themselves in.
A Denver estate planning attorney can review this and other options with you to find the best plan tailored to meets all your needs.