Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Better Later Than Earlier?

Happily, Ray and Liz’s children will probably never need a financial guardian, because Ray and Liz have no reason to believe they will pass away before the children are all grown up.

But their planning is necessary to provide care for them in case the unexpected does happen.  They have already chosen whom they want to serve as guardian for Sam, picking Liz’s sister Joy to be personal guardian (with custody), and picking Ray’s friend Ted to be financial guardian.

But if Ted becomes financial guardian, he would be in charge of each child’s money only until the child turns 18.  At that point, Ted would be required to make all of the money available to each child without restriction. 

This would be a very large amount of money, as Ray and Liz have large life insurance policies to be sure there would be enough to take care of Rose and Sam.

Ray and Liz, who were 18 quite some years ago, consider either Rose or Sam receiving so much money at age 18 to be a dangerous prospect.  When they were 18, they themselves would have been easy marks for many people with excellent ‘investment ideas.’

Ray and Liz could leave the children’s money to a trust that would be created after their deaths instead of to a financial guardian.  Then they could pick later ages for either or both children to get unrestricted access to the money.

To consider your alternatives for your own estate plan, please call our office at (815) 436-1996 for an appointment. ©2015 Gruber Law Office, Ltd.


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