Reasons to use a trust for adult children

On Behalf of | Mar 9, 2018 | Trusts

Some Nevada parents who are planning their estate might want to consider creating a trust to pass assets on even to their adult children. While it is not uncommon for people to create trusts for minor children, there are a number of reasons to do so for adults as well.

Some adults are simply not good at managing money. This could be because they lack the necessary knowledge or because they are spendthrifts. In the former case, this means that the person may also lack the financial acumen to hire a competent financial adviser. A trust can protect assets for a beneficiary who is less financially savvy or irresponsible with money by limiting distributions in some way. For example, a person might only receive investment income each year. An alternative is to give a trustee the discretion to make distributions to beneficiaries. The trustee might also be responsible for paying certain bills on the beneficiary’s behalf directly from the trust.

Having a trustee manage distributions might be the right choice if a beneficiary has issues with substance abuse or a gambling addiction. A trust can also protect assets from the beneficiary’s creditors or from a spouse in the event of a divorce. Trust distributions can also be tied to certain milestones.

An attorney can help a client decide whether a trust is the right choice as well as discuss the different types of trusts available. For example, a charitable remainder trust could be used to provide income for beneficiaries and also support a charity. There might also be other reasons to use a trust or beneficiary designations instead of a will. These tools offer more privacy, and they can also ensure that assets get to beneficiaries more quickly than they would with a will.