The Living Trust Advisor

CHAPTER 11 The Power to Change Your Deceased Spouse’s Inheritance Instructions . . . or Not! Or, If Your Child’s Vice Dissipates after Your Spouse Dies, Are You Allowed to Change Your Spouse’s Inheritance Instructions to Meet That Change?

 

At the time you and your spouse established your Living Trust, the inheritance instructions were designed to speak to your children’s circumstances as they existed back when you created the Living Trust.

For example, say you have two children—a son and a daughter.

Your son is a normal person. In my world, “normal” means he does not have any problems that pose a risk of loss to his inheritance. He is not an alcoholic, a drug addict, or a spendthrift. He does not belong to a crazy cult to which he will hand over his inheritance. He does not suffer from any mental or emotional infirmity that he must take medication to control. And there is no drama in your son’s life, such as a wife with cash-register eyes, an income tax problem, or an actual or pending divorce, which will cause your son’s inheritance to quickly dissipate.

For your normal son, you and your spouse believed his inheritance will not be caught up in any problems. So, your Living Trust leaves him in complete control of his share of the inheritance.

The Tyranny of Unjustified Lifetime Control

Your daughter, however, is another story. She has never managed her money properly, and you doubt she will attain financial maturity after your death. She spends like a socialite, throwing ...