Estate planning later in life

Estate planning later in life comes with unique questions and choices. Although creating or updating your estate planning may seem like a daunting task, a proper estate plan can help address the concerns you may face as a senior citizen. We are here to help you.

The biggest question is: how do you protect your loved ones after you are gone?

Although you will no longer be with your family, you can still have a direct impact on your loved one’s financial future. A trust is a great tool to hold the money and property you want to give to your loved ones. It allows you to set aside a portion of your accounts and property for the benefit of a loved one.

You can name someone to oversee the money and property and instruct that person on when and how the money and property must be used. When establishing a trust, there are a few different options for how your loved one can receive the money and property:

Outright distribution: The terms of the trust can instruct the trustee to give your loved one the right to withdraw all of the money and property in their share of the trust at any time, without any strings attached.

At certain ages: You can dictate in the terms of your trust that a certain percentage be distributed to your loved one at different ages.

After reaching certain milestones: You can instruct the trustee to distribute a certain percentage or amount once a milestone has been reached, such as attaining a college degree.

Leave it up to the trustee: If you are concerned about what your loved one may do with the money or if your loved one has a high-risk job, creditor issues, an unhealthy marriage, or an addiction, allowing distributions to be made only at the trustee’s discretion is a good way to try to protect the money and property that you have set aside for your loved one.