Listen to Our PodcastIf you take a look at your current estate plan, I’ll bet it leaves your assets to your children outright and unprotected by the time they are 35.
How do I know this? Because most lawyers aren’t giving much thought to your planning, they are simply recommending the default and that is that your assets are distributed outright to your heirs when they are “old enough.”
If your plan is built on this default, you may be overlooking an incredibly valuable gift you can give your children and the generations that will follow.
Leave Your Kids a Nest Egg Protected From Lawsuits, Divorce, and Estate Taxes
Yes, you can really do that. Everything you’ve worked so hard to build can be left to your children in such a way that it stays protected throughout their lifetime, so if they ever get divorced or sued, your legacy will not be lost to an ex-spouse or creditor.
The best part is that if your child has her own taxable estate when she dies your planning now will save your family 45 cents on every dollar handed down from one generation to the next.
Save Your Family 45 Cents on Every Dollar at Each Generation
This adds up fast! For every million dollars you leave outright to your children, your grandchildren could receive only $550,000 with $450,000 going to the government unnecessarily.
So, if you want to know that everything you’ve worked so hard to create will stay in your family for generations to come and not be lost to outsiders, leaving your assets to your children protected instead of outright is the way to go.
But How Will My Kids Get to Use What I Leave to Them?
Here’s the best part about leaving your assets to your children in a Lifetime Asset Protection Trust. Not only is what you leave protected, but your children control what you leave them when you decide they are ready.
After your death, the assets you leave behind will pass to your children (and your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on for successive generations) in a trust that is controlled by your child as the trustee of the trust. You get to decide when your child is mature enough to act as trustee.
As the trustee of the trust, your child decides how what you’ve left is invested and what to do with the trust assets. And, your child will even be able to determine the amount of control versus the amount of asset protection he or she wants based on his or her specific circumstances.
Is This Still Important If I Don’t Have Much Money?
If you are only leaving your children a small amount of money, this is still incredibly valuable protection. Some might say it’s even more important because your family has less to lose to taxes, lawsuits, and divorce at each generation. And, the impact of such losses is much greater.
Consider the $50,000 my dad left to me at his death. When I lost half of that in my divorce, there wasn’t much left. Had my dad left this inheritance to me protected, I’d still have the whole amount today.
And, I could have used that $50,000 to start a business or buy an investment property. I could have leveraged that $50,000 into millions of dollars, all of which would have been protected from lawsuits, divorce, and estate taxes.
A Mere $1,000 Protected Can Become Millions for the People You Love
My grandmother put $1,000 into a trust just like this for my benefit. She named me the investment trustee and I decided to invest that $1,000 to start a business I intend to sell in the future for at least $20,000,000. Because I don’t own that business (it’s owned by the trust my grandmother started for me), that $20,000,000 can never be taken if I get divorced or if I’m sued and will never be subject to estate tax when I die, no matter how big my assets and how small the estate tax exemption. And, the best part is that it’s protected for my children (and even great-grandchildren) while giving them the possibility of growing it even greater at each generation.
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We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer an Initial Planning Session,™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule an Initial Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $250 session at no charge. Call us at 870-275-4304 or schedule online today!
