It is always better to put everything in a trust. Within the trust, you can still list out specific items to go to specific people. You can be as detailed or as general as you wish, whether it is in a trust or in a will.
If I Do Intend To Leave Specific Assets To Specific People, What Is The Best Way To Set Up My Estate Planning Documents To Reflect This?
It is always the best plan to create a trust to handle the distribution of your assets. You can leave specific items to specific people and later on, if you desire to change that, you can make those changes in your trust, since it is a revocable trust.
Will A Trust Protect Assets Left For My Children Or Grandchildren From Reckless Spending? Can I Put Parameters In The Trust Document To Detail My Wishes?
You can set up parameters within your trust to monitor the spending of any of your beneficiaries. Your trustee will be given specific instructions by you in the trust. He or she can let the children or grandchildren have money for, for instance, a college education or a car, but not just to spend.
I Want To Ensure My Grandchildren Inherit My Property. Is It Possible To Leave Property To Minor Children In South Carolina?
It is possible to leave anything to a minor child within a will or a trust. There will be a guardian appointed. You can nominate a guardian that you would like to serve for a minor child, but the court has the final decision on who will be the guardian to watch over the assets of the minor child until he or she reaches the age of majority.
What Can I Do To Protect My Spouse Financially, Should I Become Incapacitated, Die Suddenly, Or Need To Enter A Nursing Home?
Both you and your spouse should have a durable power of attorney naming each other as your agent. You should also name an alternate agent, so in the case that you become incapacitated, the alternate agent could represent a spouse in your absence. Even better than that would be to create a family trust, so that if you are incapacitated, your spouse would be the trustee. If he or she is incapacitated, a successor trustee would come in and run the trust as you have set it up prior to becoming incapacitated.
Is Anything I Have In A Trust Protected, Should I Divorce In South Carolina?
If you created the trust prior to becoming married, then the property in the trust is yours and it is not marital property. If you created a single trust or a family trust after marriage, then a judge could bring back into the marital estate any property that you and your spouse had or bought together before you put it in the trust.
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