What's The Best Age to Release the Inheritance?
A significant part of my practice involves drafting testamentary trusts for parents with young children, usually aged 18 or younger. A testamentary trust is a will that says I leave my probate assets to my spouse, but if my spouse has predeceased, then to a trust for my children. This type of trust does not exist until both parents are deceased, and is created as part of the probate process. It is not the same as a living revocable trust, which is created during life to hold assets while you are alive. When creating a testamentary trust parents need to name a primary and secondary trustee. This is the person (or institution) that will invest the funds in the trust, file tax returns, and decide on how the monies are spent until the trust ends. Which leads to the next question, when does the trust end? "Most clients write until my youngest living child reaches age 25 or 28" is what I share with my clients. "Personally, my wills says until my youngest l...