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Can I use a trust to motivate my loved one to go to college?

On Behalf of | Apr 18, 2024 | Estate Planning & Elder Law

Absolutely! The estate planning process gives you wide discretion in how you leave your assets to your loved ones. If you want to motivate your loved ones to graduate from college, get married or have children, then you can mold your estate plan to suit your goals. The possibilities are nearly limitless.

How can you motivate your loved ones through estate planning?

The cleanest and clearest option is by using an incentive trust. This estate planning tool allows the trust’s assets to be released only upon the satisfaction of a condition that you’ve identified and placed in the trust documentation.

Remember, you can be creative here to ensure that your loved one lives the life you want for them. You can also use multiple methods incentive trusts to address multiple beneficiaries and various assets.

Are there risks with an incentive trust?

Not really. The worst that can happen is that your beneficiary never meets the condition placed on the release of trust assets. That’s why you’ll want a clear contingency plan in place in your estate plan.

You’ll also want to ensure that the terms of the trust are clear and unambiguous, otherwise the trust could be deemed invalid. But the more diligent you are in crafting your estate plan, the better.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Although an incentive trust can be a great tool to use in your estate plan, it’s not the only one that you should consider implementing. There are multiple estate planning strategies that you can utilize in conjunction with each other to create the holistic estate plan you want and need.

If you’d like more information about how to develop the custom-tailored approach that you need to bring your estate planning vision into reality, then take the time needed to learn about your estate planning options.

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