Asset Protection, estate planning
The Love and Protection Trust, Part 1
By estate planning attorney Rick Law. Rick is founder of the Estate Planning Center at Law Elder Law in West Suburban Aurora, IL. LEL is a multi-generation law firm. In the last few blog posts, you’ve learned about some options for your child with a disability. But what if your child or grandchild doesn’t have a clearly defined disability, but a pattern of poor choices or simply a vulnerability to predators? A number of times I have had clients tell me that they love their vulnerable adult children, but they have a child who has chosen a destructive lifestyle. Sometimes it’s a mental health issue, a drug problem, a controlling partner, or simply a matter of making very bad choices. These parents do not want to abandon any of their children — but they also don’t want the money they provide to fuel the fire that is consuming their child. They come to me and ask me what to do. Since this child is not someone with a legally defined disability — but the parents know the child will squander all of their inheritance… unless they find a way to provide “lifetime love and protection” using their estate’s assets. The answer is what I call the Lifetime Love and Protection Trust (LPT). Follow along in our next installment to discover more about the love and protection trust. An LPT can be used to help safely provide for:
- A loved one with a drug or gambling addiction
- A child with a controlling spouse or partner
- A child who has failed to launch
- Those who will simply never be able to handle money, for any reason
- An unemployable person
- Someone who is at risk of being taken advantage of by creditors or predators
- A loved one who makes poor life choices
- Any loved one who is vulnerable