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Home / Estate Planning / Inheritance Planning / What Are My Options of Distributing An Inheritance To My Beneficiaries?

What Are My Options of Distributing An Inheritance To My Beneficiaries?

March 17, 2016 by Nicole Livingston, Estate Planning Attorney

Attorney Nicole Livingston  One of the key decisions in preparing your estate plan is deciding in what manner you will leave your assets to your beneficiaries.  Years ago it was quite common to leave inheritances outright.  In more recent times, “staggered” distributions were favored, which distributed the inheritance to the beneficiary in pieces – such as one-half at death and the balance five years later, or one-third when the beneficiary attained ages twenty-five, thirty and thirty-five.

With the recent proliferation of lawsuits, and the divorce rate at about fifty percent, these types of distribution plans are becoming less common.  More and more often, parents are leaving inheritances in trust for their children and grandchildren.  The advantages of leaving an inheritance in trust are many:

  1. Lawsuit protection, if the trust is properly structured;
  2. Protection from a divorcing spouse of the beneficiary;
  3. A potential reduction in estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes at your death as well as at the death of future generations through the use of generation-skipping trust provisions;
  4. In the case of a “spendthrift” beneficiary, or one who is prone to drug, alcohol, or gambling additions, the ability to have a third party manage the inheritance for the beneficiary;
  5. In the case of a “special needs” beneficiary, the ability to avoid disqualifying the special needs beneficiary from receiving valuable government benefits such as Medicaid or SSI while, at the same time, making inheritance funds available for their supplemental needs.

Setting up an estate plan requires much forethought and careful planning.  A qualified estate planning attorney can assist you in working through the various options of creating a comprehensive estate plan that addresses your wishes and concerns.

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Nicole Livingston, Estate Planning Attorney
Nicole Livingston focuses her practice in the areas of estate planning, special needs planning, and elder law. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Livingston was a speech-language pathologist. She worked primarily with geriatric patients with neurologic conditions in a sub-acute setting.
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Filed Under: Inheritance Planning Tagged With: asset distribution, Beneficiaries, Estate Plan, Estate Planning Attorney, heirs, special needs beneficiary, spendthrift beneficiary, staggered distributions, wpdiary.net/sinclairprosserlaw

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About Nicole Livingston, Estate Planning Attorney

Nicole Livingston focuses her practice in the areas of estate planning, special needs planning, and elder law. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Livingston was a speech-language pathologist. She worked primarily with geriatric patients with neurologic conditions in a sub-acute setting.

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We initiated estate planning following a presentation by Sinclair Prosser Attorney Jon Gasior. We were so impressed, we contracted with them to complete our estate planning. Subsequently, we assembled information on our assets and Sinclair Prosser Gasior did the rest. Correspondence was communicated to our financial institutions and the estate was established. We were very pleased with the courteous manner of the Sinclair Prosser Gasior staff. However, it was their professionalism that made us satisfied we chose this firm to handle our estate. We have nothing but praise for Sinclair Prosser Gasior .

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