Wills, Trusts & Estates: Plain and Simple – Should You Create Trusts for Your Kids?

November 18, 2019

If your children are under age eighteen, you should have trusts for them in your Wills, in the event you and your spouse should die before all your children reach age 18. If minors receive assets prior to reaching age eighteen, a guardian of the property must be appointed to take care of those assets for your child. A guardian of the property must be bonded (which requires annual premium payments), and the guardian must file a formal accounting with the court annually, along with a petition for approval. The guardian will need a lawyer, and perhaps an accountant, to assist with satisfying these requirements. The costs of all this are paid from your child’s funds.

Alternatively, in your Will, you could direct that a trust be created for each of your minor children at the death of you and your spouse. You can provide that the Trustee need not post a bond, and a Trustee is not required to file an accounting with the court every year. Creating a trust for a minor child is generally procedurally easier and less costly than leaving assets outright to a minor child and having a guardian of the property appointed.

Reprinted with permission from Lloyd Harbor Life, November 2019. 

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