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Do You Want Your In-laws to Inherit Your Money?

Posted By Lineweaver Financial Group
July 06, 2018 Category: Q3 Newsletter, In Laws, Inheritance, Trusts, Bloodline Trust, Marital Trust

By Michael L. Solomon of Solomon, Steiner and Peck Most people think their will or trust provides that on their demise, that their assets pass to their children and if their children pass away the assets pass to their grandchildren. However, that only happens if your child dies before you. Hopefully, your children outlive you. If that happens, the typical will and trust have the money pass directly to your children immediately, or by the time they are a certain age. Either way, once the child inherits the money, it is governed by your child’s will or trust, not yours. That means that upon your child’s death, the assets will most likely pay to your son-in-law or daughter-in-law and may pass on their death to someone else, such as a new spouse. For some people that is fine, but for others it may not be what you want. Many people want the money to stay in the family. To do that you need what we call a Bloodline Trust.  For example, let us say and husband and wife have an estate of $500,000 and one child who is married with two children. A typical estate plan will provide that the inheritance pays outright to the child. Once the child inherits the money, his estate plan will say that all of his estate, including what the child inherits from you, pays to his spouse. With the Bloodline Trust the $500,000 will be held in a trust for the benefit of the child. The child can be their own trustee and they can control the investments and decide how the money is distrib