Understanding How a Trust for a Minor Works

In most cases, a trust for minors is set up as a way of preserving assets and distributing property to children without giving them access to their inheritance in the present moment. Minor trusts are legal arrangements that typically come with instructions that denote when the money, property or other assets may be released to the care of the person to whom the trust belongs. Trusts for minors are an excellent way to ensure the future and long-term financial security of your children after your death.

Trust funds for minors can be established to serve many intended purposes:

• Preemptively plan for the distribution of finances.
• Set up a timeline as to when the beneficiaries will receive the funds.
• Define how the funds should be allocated.
• Address the preferred plan of action should the minor pass away.

How Do Trusts for Minors Work?

When setting up a trust for a minor, you have a couple of options available to you. Whether you choose a will or a living trust is up to you. Either way, you can leave your property behind in your child’s name with a legal document, though you will need to address the age of the minor via a provision. If the child is a minor when you pass away, the property that is included as part of the minor’s trust will be designated to a trustee who will then care for it on behalf of the child.

While setting up trusts for minors, you are given the option to select the end date for the trust, meaning the age restriction can be set to the age that you deem appropriate. For instance, some people think about maturity and want to set the age of a minor’s trust to a point in their life when they will be more mature. If that’s the case, it may help to hear that children are of utmost maturity by the time they reach their early to mid-30s. Some parents may choose to leave assets in trust long-term as a form of asset protection until their child reaches a certain age.

A major benefit of a minor trust is that you can set it up in advance to provide financial support to your child in increments as opposed to the trust account being disbursed as a lump sum. This can be implemented as a protective measure to ensure that all of the money is not spent immediately and to protect assets. A primary goal of establishing a trust for a minor is securing their financial support in the event that their parents pass away.

For example, you could allow some of the money to be distributed when your child turns 25, with an additional portion being disbursed when they turn 30 and the remaining funds granted at the age of 35. Minor trusts can be particularly useful in situations where a child lives with a disability and may require expensive medical treatment in the years to come. Rehabilitation as well as specialized and personalized diets may be necessary throughout their lives. You also have the option of establishing a special needs trust to create a plan in the event that their circumstances change.

The process of setting up a trust fund for a minor beneficiary can be a step in the direction of ensuring that the inheritance funds that you leave behind for your children are used for reasons that are in your child’s best interest. This is made possible by the option to implement restrictions pertaining to how your child uses the money and assets they receive in the form of inheritance. This will help ensure that you retain control of your estate plan, manage government benefits, and more all for your child’s benefit.

Long-Term Financial Security & Asset Protection

By setting up a trust, you can ensure that the money you set aside will be put toward the benefit of your children. Doing so will provide you with a way to guide the decisions of your children and impact their spending habits in terms of their inheritance even after you have passed.

With a trust for minors, you can set guidelines regarding how the money you leave behind for your children should be spent, what the funds can be put toward, and how the trust assets are distributed. For example, you might state that the funds within the trust account can only be used for housing, education and health-related expenses. This will ensure that transferring assets goes smoothly and that your other family members understand how the trust operates.

You can also decide what happens with any remaining trust funds. For instance, you can take the time to explicitly spell out the name of a secondary beneficiary, such as a grandchild. In the same token, you can also identify people who under no circumstances may be granted access to the funds.

Alternatively, you can leave all the decisions up to the trustee and his or her discretion. This is a way of giving more control to the beneficiary by granting them additional powers and rights regarding how the trust works, such as allowing your child to choose who the secondary trust beneficiary is. You can even allow the child to become a co-trustee by saying so in your trust document.

In addition to the numerous benefits that trusts for minors offer, there are also many significant long-term implications of opening a trust for your minor child. Before opening a trust in your minor-aged child’s name, make sure you conduct thorough research and learn all that there is to know about minor trusts so that your ultimate decision is made with a fully informed mind.

Set Up a Minor Trust Fund Today

Setting up trust documents for your minor child can help ensure their future, protect your assets, and ensure they have full access to their rightful inheritance once they reach a certain age. Your child’s future is important, and a Connecticut-based trust attorney can help you maintain control over your finances, assets, and your child’s special needs.

Count on our experienced team at Ericson, Scalise & Mangan, PC to provide you with sound guidance for your estate planning, elder law, real estate, probate, trust and estate administration, and other legal claims. For assistance in establishing a trust for your minor, contact us today at 860-854-3809, or email us at info@esmlaw.com.