Irrevocable Trust

Answer:

An irrevocable trust is just what it is called. Once you establish it, you can’t revoke it. A living trust and a revocable trust are different ways to refer to a trust that can be changed. You set up the trust and move all your assets into it. You’re still the trustee. You’re still the beneficiary. At any time, you can say, “I’m finished with this. I’m going to void this trust,” and just go back to just a plain will. The irrevocable trusts aren’t that easy. Once you set it up, you can’t just terminate it. And while more restrictive, many people prefer irrevocable trusts because they protect your estate from predators trying to get at your money. Another reason people like irrevocable trusts is they enable you to can safeguard heirs and better protecting them — sometimes from themselves. In today’s world, you never know what your children are going to do with your money. They may get a large sum of money when they’re 25 or 30 and go through it quickly. When this happens, heirs often create a lifestyle they can’t sustain, burning through their money as they spiral out of control. Such children often end up with nothing and in trouble with debt. An irrevocable trust will assist you in protecting them. When you establish a trust, you will also have the option of appointing a third party to act as a fiduciary who deals with requests for money. This is an effective solution to the problem of children who put a lot of pressure on surviving parents. Without the help of a third party, when their children guilt trip them, some surviving parents will give them money and give them money, and pretty soon the surviving parent doesn’t have any money, either. With a third party as trustee, the surviving spouse won’t have to deal with these requests. He or she can say, “You need to go talk to the trustee because that’s in his hands now.” The trustee you select should be someone who knows you, who preferably has video tapes of you discussing what your desires are for this trust and how to handle various contingencies. If you have a child who’s in a situation in need of need funding, here’s what I want you to do: Include in your video a clip with an example, like, “If I have a son who wants to buy a new Ferrari, I’m not going to do that.” Examples like this help take pressure off the surviving parent as to how to respond to children requesting money from the estate. Children are pretty good at making parents feel guilty. I always recommend helping a surviving parent you don’t think can stand up to the children by appointing a co-trustee to help them. Don’t just leave them out there on their own. Seeking a lawyer or fiduciary to help a surviving spouse with financial requests from children is a tremendous help.