The way you view estate planning can vary considerably depending on your personal situation. There are variables and complexities to take into account, such as divorce and remarriage with children from each marriage.

Frequently, people who get divorced end up remarrying. This creates a particular estate planning scenario that is often handled through the creation of a qualified terminable interest property trust (QTIP). Many people believe this kind of trust can only be created upon your death. Not true. A QTIP trust created during your lifetime can be a very powerful estate planning strategy.

With a QTIP trust, your surviving spouse will be the beneficiary during their lifetime. He or she can benefit from the assets that you have placed into the trust in the manner that you set forth when you drew up the trust agreement.

Because the point is to also provide for your children, you may allow your surviving spouse to receive income from the trust without having access to the principal.

The surviving spouse has no say over who inherits the resources that remain in the trust after his or her death. You, as the grantor, can name your children as the beneficiaries when you create the trust to ensure they are provided for.

If you would like to learn more about a qualified terminable interest property trust, the first step would be to get in touch with a good Oklahoma City estate planning attorney to arrange for an informative consultation.

Larry Parman
Author, President and Founding Attorney
Parman & Easterday