Thoughtful Inheritance Planning
Leaving behind a legacy to your loved ones is a very important matter, and there can be a lot more to think about than simply handing out shares of the whole. When you get serious about planning your estate it is more than just a matter of dollars and cents because you invariably recognize the profundity of the finality of your absence. When the time comes for your estate to be distributed to your loved ones you will no longer be there for them, and though financial resources can help there are some things that money can’t buy.
When you’re in a situation where you have a family member who has a substance abuse problem when you are planning your estate it can be a difficult situation to address. Clearly you want to do everything that you can to help, and you probably want to treat all of your closest family members equally. At the same time giving a large inheritance to someone with a drug problem could be a recipe for disaster, especially in light of the fact that this person will presumably be in a vulnerable aggrieved state after your death.
There is an estate planning vehicle that can be used effectively in situations such as these called the incentive trust. You fund the trust, appoint a trustee, and name your loved one as the beneficiary as you would with any trust. But with the incentive trust you include stipulations in the trust agreement that must be met before distributions will be made to the beneficiary. So if you had a loved one with a drug problem you may require this individual to complete a substance abuse program and undergo regular testing as conditions that must be met before distributions take place.
Protecting a loved one through the creation of an incentive trust can provide you with peace of mind and potentially guide a family member toward a path of healing and away from a path of self-destruction.
