One of the things important to keep in mind when you are planning your estate is the fact that your family members are going to have to get by for the rest of their lives without your support when you pass away. This may sound like an exercise in overstating the obvious, but it is not that at all because many people don’t recognize the fact that a single one-time bequest to each family member may not suffice.
There are those who are not prepared to handle a lump sum of money, and they burn through it quickly for one reason or another. They may have eyes bigger than their long-term wallets and make unwise purchases; they may make bad investments; or they may simply live above their means in a subtle manner that catches up with them before they know it.
In other cases inheritances are lost due to judgments from lawsuits, creditors’ claims, or contested divorce proceedings.This is why asset protection is so important to consider when you’re planning your estate.
One way that people arrange for the transfer of their assets to take place in a protected manner is through the creation of lifetime trusts. Your beneficiary is not the direct legal owner of the assets with which you fund the trust, so claimants cannot target these funds. In addition to protecting the assets from outside sources of erosion, a well-constructed lifetime trust can allow for distributions on a long-term basis in a balanced manner that prevents the beneficiary from making bad decisions that exhaust the assets in the trust prematurely.
Including lifetime trusts as a part of your estate plan can be a prudent choice that your loved ones will probably appreciate at some point in the future if they don’t immediately understand the logic behind your decision today. To proceed, simply contact an experienced estate planning attorney who will listen as you explain your wishes and assist you in devising the appropriate asset protection strategy.
Larry Parman
Founding Attorney
Since founding Parman & Easterday in 1985, Larry has led over 1,000 free, community-service education programs and helped more than 10,000 Oklahoma families go from putting off their estate plan to getting it done. His goal for every client is the same: to become the person their family calls "the one who took care of everything."
Larry is the author of three books: The Straight Shooter's Guide to Estate Planning; Estate Planning Basics; and Guiding Those Left Behind in Oklahoma. He served as Oklahoma's Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce, and his firm is the only member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys in the state.
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