Last week I met with a couple in the Houma office to discuss setting up a living trust. The family was interested in a Trust that would allow them to avoid probate at death and allow them to spread out and delay any inheritance that would go to two of their daughters who they deemed as irresponsible.
Typically when families set up a living trust, the trust terminates after both spouses have passed and the funds in the trust are distributed to the heirs immediately upon the death of both spouses. This family wanted to delay the inheritance and place conditions on when it was received. They wanted these two daughters to prove that they were responsible enough to accept an inheritance. So we put conditions in the trust that says the daughters will not receive their portion of the trust until they can demonstrate that they are responsible through achieving a credit score of 725 or higher. If they never achieve this condition, they will never receive their inheritances and their portions will pass to their kids.
This is certainly one of the more creative conditions you can make when it comes to placing conditions on inheritance, but families place conditions on inheriting all the time to prevent their kids from receiving a large sum and wasting it foolishly. To figure out creative ways to structure your children’s inheritance call (504) 274-1980 in the Metairie and New Orleans Area or call (985) 246-3020 in Mandeville, Covington, Slidell, Houma, Thibodaux, and surrounding areas.