Annapolis trust attorneys help you if you are creating a trust for your children. Many parents will create a trust in order to provide for children who are not 18 at the time that they will inherit. If you pass away before your kids become adults, making a trust is important if you want control over who will manage the assets you have left for your children and if you don’t simply want your kids to get their entire inheritance at age 18 with no strings attached. Making a trust is also important if you have a child who is disabled or if you are worried that your child may be not responsible enough to manage an inheritance that you are providing to him. 
If you have decided to create a trust for your children, a qualified estate planning attorney will assist you with deciding what type of trust is the right one and with going through the formal trust creation process to ensure that your trust is legally valid and provides you with expected protections. We can also provide you with the advice you need to know exactly how the trust will work so you can make a smart choice about whether to tell your kids you are leaving them money in a trust or not.
Should You Tell Your Kids You’re Leaving Them Money in a Trust?
Many parents are reluctant to discuss with their children the fact they are creating a trust. There are some good reasons why you may not want to discuss trust creation with your kids. If your children are young, for example, they likely will not understand how trusts work or why a trust is needed. They could also be frightened of the possibility that you might not be able to always care for them and are thus creating a trust to provide for them if you cannot be there until they are adults. If you don’t think your young children would understand or if you are worried about your kids getting scared, there is little reason to discuss trust creation with young kids.
However, if you are making a trust for older children, and especially if you are creating a trust for the transfer of assets to adult children, it can be helpful to have a conversation with your kids. Your children will need to know what assets you own and how the ownership of those assets is structured so they will understand what must occur after your death. If you are creating a simple trust just to protect your assets and to facilitate the transfer of your wealth to your kids more quickly outside of the probate process, your children may be very happy that you’re creating a trust. They may also be interested if you create a trust to try to avoid estate tax so you can transfer more wealth to them.
If the purpose of your trust is to restrict what your kids can do with their inheritance or to impose conditions on an inheritance, your children may be less happy to hear about the trust. Still, it can often be better to have a discussion with them during the trust creation process so they understand why you have made the choices you made. While you may be worried about family fighting or pressure from your kids not to structure the trust in the way you see fit, you can at least explain your reasoning as to why you are creating a trust as you go through the process.
Getting Help from Annapolis Trust Attorneys
Annapolis trust attorneys at Sinclair Prosser Gasior are here to help you with all of the decisions you need to make during the trust creation process, from who to name as a trustee to the type of trust you want to create to what instructions you want to put in your trust document. We can explain all of the legal and financial implications of creating a trust and can help you to make sure your trust protects your assets and your loved ones. We can also advise you on some key things to consider when you decide whether to talk with your kids about trust creation or not.
To learn more about creating a trust and about how trusts can work to protect your children, join us for a free seminar .
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