Parents who do advanced Estate Planning for their children are on the right track. Doing so ensures that you protect your hard-earned assets, giving you the assurance that these various assets will stay in the family and be passed on properly to your rightful heirs.
It can become tricky if you don’t have the proper documents. For example, if your child doesn’t have a Prenuptial Agreement and faces a divorce, your properties may end up with an in-law you don’t even like. For this reason, you must consider seeking a lawyer’s help to protect your kids’ inheritance from any unforeseen or unfortunate circumstances. Fortunately, you will find many ways to secure your children’s inheritance, allowing future generations to also enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Create a Trust for Your Children
A trust typically involves three parties, you (the person creating the trust, also known as the grantor or trust maker), the person holding the trust property for the benefit of the children (known as the trustee), and your kids, also known as beneficiaries.
For best results, hire reputable Property Lawyers who can help you setup a ‘lifetime trust’ that lasts for the lifetime of the beneficiaries and immediately gets passed on to the next generation upon their death. You must also ensure your chosen trustee is independent and trustworthy. Assets in this kind of trust are protected against co-mingling in marriage. As such, any future spouse cannot go after the said property. On top of that, it dramatically reduces estate taxes.
Suggest a Prenup Before Marriage
You can establish a Prenuptial Agreement for your children to prevent their future spouse from staking a claim in your assets. This document, executed by experienced Property Lawyers, will be an agreement between your child and their spouse-to-be, itemizing assets owned before marriage. Hence, in case of a divorce, only properties earned jointly upon marriage will be included in the division of assets. To ensure that they will strictly enforce this document even after your death, you must seek legal advice when drafting this agreement.
Other Excellent Planning Suggestions
Apart from using actual legal tools, you must let your immediate family know your wishes. When your children have matured and reached the right age, you must have a discussion about your estate with them. Declare your intentions and explanations as to why you set things up a certain way. This could mitigate potentially hurt feelings when your assets are eventually divided upon your demise. After all, you are doing everything you can to protect your children, so you need to convey that to them. Speaking about things ahead will allow you to deal with potential conflict while you can still address them verbally and in a sound state of mind.
Seek Expert Advice from the Best Lawyers
Suppose you want to make sure your estate gets distributed properly among all your descendants. In that case, you need Estate Planning to ensure your desires are carried out accordingly even after your passing. Thus, it is vital to speak with an expert team like Platinum Lawyers. Our team will sit down with you and help you create a plan that meets your objectives. We can also help you update an old, existing estate plan to protect your assets. To book a consultation, call us at (02) 8084 2764.
