When you think about situations that are considered to be “problems” the implication is that they are all bad. But there is such a thing as a pleasant problem as well, and some of these types of problems can creep into the realm of estate planning.
While financial resources are certainly going to be welcomed by the family members that you are leaving behind, you may be concerned about spoiling certain individuals. It is likely that there are some people on your inheritance list who are fully mature and capable of handling their own affairs without an influx of money having any potentially negative impact.
But on the other hand, you may have an heir who could potentially be ill-served by a sudden windfall. This may be one of those pleasant problems, but it must be addressed all the same. One solution would be the creation of an incentive trust.
With these trusts you appoint a trustee who administers distributions according to stipulations that you set forth when you create the trust agreement. You could instill a work ethic in an heir by stating that distributions will be made on a dollar by dollar match basis tied to the personal earnings of the beneficiary. If your trust fund distributions will be larger if you earn more money on the job you have quite an incentive to achieve your highest potential.
This is just one idea but you can stipulate anything that is important to you when you are drawing up the agreement. To find out more about incentive trusts, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and arrange for a consultation with a licensed and savvy Hartford estate planning lawyer.
Mr. Nirenstein is licensed to practice before the courts of the State of Connecticut and the United States District Court. He is a member of the Connecticut and Hartford County Bar Associations, and the Estate and Probate, Elder Law, Business Law and Real Estate Sections of the Connecticut Bar Association.
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