Can you protect your wealth from your child’s spouse?

Distributing your wealth after you die can be complex on its own. It can be more complex when it involves a child and his or her spouse.

What do you do if you do not trust your child’s partner? Maybe your son or daughter-in-law is bad with money or perhaps you foresee divorce in the future.

According to CNB, you can use an estate plan to protect wealth from your child’s spouse.

Talk to your children

When you seek to protect your wealth from your son or daughter-in-law, you should have a conversation with your child. Wealth protection is not just about cutting off or disinheriting a spouse. If you have family heirlooms or family-owned real estate, you may want to ensure that it stays within the family. If your child divorces, he or she could lose family assets. The more that your child understands about your estate plan, the less likely there is to be any contesting after you die.

Use trusts to protect wealth

To utilize a trust is a parent’s best option when it comes to wealth transfer. If you suspect that your child’s spouse may take advantage of him or her or if you suspect divorce is on the horizon, then you can protect the wealth. Trusts can provide for education, health, maintenance and support. Trusts can also limit the distributions to current spouses or future spouses. The trust can even include what might happen if your child dies.

For instance, if you have family heirlooms that you want passed on to your grandchildren if your child dies, you can do it.

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Kevin Tharpe

With 25 years of experience, Kevin understands how estate planning, special needs planning, and government benefits programs work together. This is a crucial element of a thorough plan. He explains your eligibility for benefits programs and ensures that you do not make costly mistakes that may disqualify you or deplete your assets.

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