In a child’s trust, you are eligible to leave behind specified property to one child. This property will be held distinctly from any property left for other children. You might choose with the help of your estate planning lawyer, for example, to create a child’s trust for each child if you have more than one. 

The trust is your legal entity through which an adult, also known as the trustee, is responsible for handling property or money for someone else. In this case, the trustee is responsible for managing the property or money identified for a minor child.

In the event that you create a trust, the property manager is known as the successor trustee or the trustee. Your trust document should only be created with the help of an estate planning attorney because it serves the important role of sitting out the trustee’s responsibility and the rights of the beneficiary.

A will or a living trust are other tools that can be used in conjunction with a child’s trust. If you create a child’s trust as part of your living trust, the property placed inside avoids probate. With a child’s trust, you can also select the age that the beneficiary must achieve before the trust property is turned over to him or her.

This is frequently used when a large amount of money is being left behind for a child and the parent has concerns about the child’s ability to manage it appropriately. They might not want the child to receive the property outright until he or she has achieved an age of maturity such as 30 or 35. As with other trust planning procedures, the control of this document is up to you and you have a great deal of flexibility in deciding what works best for your individual family. Speak directly with an estate planning attorney about how to use these tools.