Your children are grown and make adult decisions, but you might worry that you can’t trust their decisions to always be wise, especially when it comes to money. It can be difficult to handle a sudden inheritance when adult children are still young and inexperienced with managing money, or one or more of your children might have made devastating spending decisions in the past. For whatever reasons, you and other Florida residents with significant assets to pass on may worry about your children spending it too quickly.
You may hope the inheritance you leave your children can support them throughout their lives, put them or their children through college or help them purchase a home. However, people who suddenly find themselves with a lot of funds might not think that far ahead, instead choosing to spend it all on frivolous purchases, lavish vacations and other things that can drain an inheritance in weeks.
As Forbes explains, you might address these concerns by setting up a spendthrift trust for your children. Like other trusts, you can be specific in your wishes. You might direct the trustee to distribute a certain amount of funds to your children each month or determine how the money is to be spent. You can choose to keep the trust in place for a set number of years – ending when a child turns 30 or becomes gainfully employed, for example, or you could leave the trust in place for the rest of their lives.
A spendthrift trust allows your children to enjoy the benefits of their inheritance while protecting the money and ensuring they are comfortable for as long as possible. Since trusts require experienced legal counsel, this information should not replace the advice of a lawyer.
