Many young parents put off estate planning because they think they have plenty of time to work on their estate plan before they pass away. One way to provide for your children after you're gone is to create a trust. When you create a trust for minors, you can designate your assets to be provided to your child after you're gone to cover his or her support and education costs. A trust for minors will also protect your assets from creditors, allowing your children to use the bulk of your assets.
Thinking about what will happen to your children when you're gone is difficult. However, failing to create an estate plan that will allow you to provide for your children after you're gone will negatively impact your children. When you create a minor’s trust, you can ensure that your children will be financially cared for after you're gone. If you're interested in creating a trust for minors, contact attorney Christopher Heritage today. He has helped many Palm Springs area parents establish the trust for minors they need to protect their loved ones when they're gone.
The Benefits of Creating a Trust for Minors in California
Estate plans involving minor children present unique issues. After the death of a child's parent or parents, they become vulnerable both financially and emotionally. Setting up a trust for a minor allows you to ensure that your child will receive the money they need in the best possible way. You will also appoint a trustee that you know will protect your child and help them thrive after you are gone.
When parents pass away unexpectedly, children are subjected to emotional trauma. Their lives will be turned upside down as they begin to live with another family member. Creating a minor's trust allows your children to access the finances they need immediately after your death. Your minor children will not need to go through the probate process to access your assets. Instead, the trustee will provide them with the immediate and long-term financial assistance they require.
Creating a trust for minors allows you to protect your hard-earned assets from creditors, potentially save on tax liability, and rest easier knowing that your child will be protected in the event of your death. Minors may not be in the best position to understand how to use the assets you give them. When you create a trust for minors, you ensure that a trustworthy adult will guide them and help them use your assets wisely. Creating a trust for minor also provides the following benefits:
- Protecting your funds and assets from estranged relatives, creditors, and others
- Providing an incentive to the minor to accomplish certain life goals
- Limiting tax liability
- Setting forth guidelines on how the assets should be used
- Determining disbursement amounts
- Assets pass to the minor while avoiding the probate court process
Creating a Trust for a Minor in California
Typically, parents or grandparents will create a minor's trust to leave their assets to a child. The parents will appoint a trusted adult, known as the trustee, to manage the assets until the child is old enough to be financially responsible. Parents typically establish a trust for minors within their will or by creating a separate living trust.
When you create a minor's trust in California, you control how the minor will receive your assets. Many parents require a trustee to manage their assets until a child reaches a certain age, typically 21 or 25. Setting an age requirement ensures that the minor will have enough funds to last until they are an adult. Parents may want to require their child to meet specific life goals, such as graduating from college, before they can access the remaining assets of the trust.
If the minor dies before they reach an age at which they will access the rest of the funds, the assets can be held for others. When there are multiple siblings, the remainder in the trust will pass to the child’s sibling. The child will also have the opportunity to give away the trust assets if he or she dies before turning 21 by specifying a beneficiary in his or her will.
Is Creating a Trust for a Minor Right For You?
If you are a parent, grandparent, or another relative who would like to make a financial gift to younger children, you should consider creating a minor's trust. Depending on your financial situation and goals, creating a trust for a minor may be the most beneficial way for you to transfer your wealth to your loved one.
Creating a minor’s trust isn't for everyone. If you have concerns about your children and grandchildren’s emotional and financial maturity, you may want to explore other alternatives. You can create another type of trust that allows them to inherit money after they reach 25 or graduate from college.
It's important to discuss the implications of creating a trust for minors with an experienced estate planning lawyer. Your minor’s trust needs to closely adhere to all of the IRS’s requirements. If not, you will risk forfeiting the annual exclusion for gift taxes. The gift tax exclusion will allow the minor to receive your gift without paying income tax. Attorney Christopher Heritage will help you create a trust for minors that qualifies for the annual gift tax exclusion, allowing your loved one to keep more of your assets.
Contact a Palm Springs Trusts for Minors Lawyer Today
Whether you are interested in designating a minor child as the beneficiary of your assets or protecting your minor children through a trust for minors, attorney Christopher Heritage can help. He will carefully review your financial situation and provide you with all of the available estate planning tools, including minor trust, separate shared trust, and other types of trust that could benefit you and your beneficiaries. Contact him today to schedule an estate planning appointment. |