Every parent wants a happy marriage for their children. Watching them start their own families and become parents themselves is an exciting time. Financially, however, it can cause a lot of complications. While you don’t want to consider the idea that they and their spouses might separate, it’s something that should never be neglected.A lack of foresight could augment the problem when your children’s inheritance is compromised because of a divorce.
To protect them and the assets you’ve intended for them, you must find steps to safeguard them as early as now. Waiting for the first signs of divorce could be a little too late to set things in order.
Reassess Your Estate Plan
One of the most important things you can do is to partner with a reputable estate law attorney. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a millionaire to need their services. If you have a property or two anywhere in Australia that you want to pass down to your children, you need to mind your wills and estate planning has numerous attorneys in this field that can get you sorted out and address your concerns. Their services will also be crucial if a divorce does happen, as they can provide additional protection for your children’s inheritance.
Communicate with Your Children
This may be a difficult conversation, but it’s an important one. After all, preserving their inheritance is not only about keeping them financially secure even after a divorce. It’s about passing down a wealth of history through family farms, artworks, jewellery, and other shared possessions. Many families have lost these things to divorce because they ended up going to the ex-sons- and daughters-in-law. When you work with an estate law attorney, you can guarantee that these assets stay within the family for more generations to come.
Getting your married children onboard this idea should improve your chances of success. They won’t feel betrayed or grow suspicious of your views on their marriages.
It’s normal if they aren’t receptive to your ideas at first. It won’t be the first time that such precautions have created strains between parents and their adult children. After all, topics like divorce and death aren’t the easiest things to talk about. Help them realise that neglecting them early on can actually complicate matters when they do happen.
If ever you are not in favour of their spouses, leave that out of the conversation and focus on more positive prospects like sustaining the family heirlooms. With the right strategy, the affair will appeal to them as more logical than emotional, which is what you want.
Consider Trust Options
A trust is a highly recommended method for parents to secure their transfer of wealth to their children. Ideally, you’ll have a corporate trustee oversee this trust to guarantee further that it won’t be abused. A trust is a great means to give your children their inheritance in increments instead of in one go.
Some of the most common uses of trusts are for education, support, health, and maintenance. Since your child does not own the trust, the likelihood of it being included in the marital assets is minimal. If your children die, this arrangement will ensure that the rest of the assets will benefit the children and grandchildren directly and not the spouses.
Create More Than One Trust
Another reason trusts are the primary solution to this issue is you can create one for every possible scenario. This trust can be activated while you’re alive or after you’ve passed on. This is especially crucial if you, in fact, favour your sons and daughters-in-law and want them to inherit something from you as well. Trusts are not just meant to ensure your children inherit their share but also to give other people what you believe they are due.
In the event of a divorce, you don’t want to accidentally disinherit your children’s spouses. Should your children pass away prematurely, too, making sure that their exes get something can secure your grandchildren’s future. Coordinating with your attorney to cover these outcomes should give you peace of mind about the efficiency of your trust.
Prepare Early
The time to prepare is when everything is peaceful, and everybody is happy. Make sure that, when you do start taking precautions, you’re not catching anybody by surprise. Enlist the help of your spouse, a credible attorney, and other trustworthy people in your life to handle this matter. You’ll be pleased by how much less you have to worry about when something bad happens either to you or to your children.