Have a future beneficiary with an Issue?

No one's perfect. (Our mothers told us this).

Unfortunately, sometimes a loved one develops an issue. A problem. With drugs, alcohol, or other behavior. Way more common that most of us think.

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence estimates that:

• more than 50% of all adults have a family history of alcohol problems.
• 8% of Americans over the age of 12 have used an illegal drug within the last 30 days.  

While some of it is harmless, serious substance abuse is not. From the Journal of the American Medical Association:

Up to 60% of patients who receive substance abuse treatment will relapse within one year.

YOUR estate planning

Will leaving them part of your money not help things?

Make the problem worse?

Your choices

• Ignore the problem. Treat the beneficiary the same as others.
• Give the beneficiary zero. Fear destructive money use.
• Give their share to another beneficiary. Coupled with an UNWRITTEN understanding that the recipient will use the money for the beneficiary's benefit.
• Include in a will or trust a trust provision. Give the share to another person with binding instructions on using it for the beneficiary's well-being.

A trust provision requires the trustee to give or use the money in the trust for the benefit of someone else. In the beneficiary's best interest.

This provision is a 'trust' arrangement.

Discussing this when you create or update a will or trust is part of estate planning. If you have this situation, you can deal with it.

A case:

You have an adult child with a serious drug addiction problem. The child has a son or daughter the MA court has given you custody over. You're not sure where your own child is living.

A hard place to be.

But if you die, do you want the money to go directly to your addicted son or daughter?

This is the estate planning issue.