Family relationships are complicated. You might not like every member of your family, and it’s unfortunate that this can be especially true for people who marry into the family.
If you have a poor relationship with your son-in-law or daughter-in-law, you may want to ensure that your child receives their full share of your estate without interference from their spouse.
At Marietta Estate Planning, we understand the importance of making sure precious family heirlooms that you cherish are kept in the family. Our firm works with Georgia families to ensure that their children’s inheritance is safe, no matter what happens. Read on to learn more about our process.
Using a Trust to Transfer Wealth
The most foolproof way of protecting your child’s inheritance is to set up a trust.
A trust is a legal relationship that allows you to distribute property or assets while you’re still alive.
With a trust, your child would not control the principal assets. Instead, they would receive payments or other distributions when the trustee (or administrator of the trust) determines that such an outlay meets the terms of the trust’s stipulations. These specific purposes could include:
- Health,
- Education,
- Maintenance, or
- Support
A Prenuptial Agreement Can Protect Your Child’s Interests
You can also encourage your child to sign a well-crafted prenuptial agreement (commonly referred to as a “prenup”) if you are concerned about what could happen to your child’s inheritance after they marry.
A prenuptial agreement may cover any of the following:
- How property is divided in a divorce or death
- What is considered marital property versus personal property
- How property is bought, sold or otherwise used
As is true of any Georgia contract, both spouses signing the agreement must be competent to enter a contract. This means both spouses are old enough to get married in Georgia, are mentally competent, neither is married to another person, and they are not related to one another.
It is rare for a court to invalidate a prenuptial agreement because someone claims that it is unreasonable. An agreement is not considered unreasonable just because the spouses will have very different financial situations after the divorce.
Hiring a Georgia estate planning attorney to guide you through these legal procedures will help ensure that this new contract is binding and that your child receives the inheritance you want them to receive.
Hire Marietta Estate Planning
Kim Frye, our lead attorney at Marietta Estate Planning, has 27 years of experience protecting people through the law. We are ready to help you set up everything you need to protect your family’s future and avoid these dangerous mistakes.
Contact us today to schedule your consultation.
