Estate Planning Basics Attorney in Ketchum, Idaho

What is the best way to leave assets to adult children?

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00:04
leaving assets to adult children
00:06
the first question is you know what age
00:09
is a
00:10
child an adult you know legally it could
00:12
be 18 or 21 depending upon the state law
00:15
in my mind it starts at about age 25
00:19
and usually i recommend
00:22
that assets be left in trust for
00:25
an adult child it could be that it’s
00:28
left in trust
00:29
for um an extended period of time and
00:32
that adult child
00:33
can grow into being their own trustee
00:36
maybe
00:36
their co-trustee at 25 and a sole
00:39
trustee at 32 or 35 or whatever age the
00:43
parents think is appropriate
00:45
it provides creditor protection if it
00:47
stays in trust and ultimately
00:49
the adult child can be their own trustee
00:52
and if they really want to take it out
00:53
of trust
00:54
they can if they need asset protection
00:58
they would have it to some extent and it
01:00
just creates a little bit more
01:02
flexibility and it doesn’t really matter
01:05
if
01:05
in terms of the dollar amount there’s a
01:07
certain base dollar amount
01:09
to make the trust worthwhile because
01:11
it’s a separate tax paying
01:12
entity with which would require separate
01:15
tax returns so there’s administrative
01:17
costs to maintaining the trust
01:19
but if that child if the majority of
01:23
what they’re receiving is a lump sum
01:26
that they
01:27
may take them a really long time to
01:29
accumulate themselves
01:30
you do want to help them spend it wisely
01:33
and not distribute it all out to
01:35
a 25 year old and one lump sum
01:39
or make it available to them in that way

Los Angeles, CA Estate Planning & Probate lawyer Jill Eshman talks about the best way to leave assets to adult children.

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