Setting up a trust fund might be an excellent way to take care of the family you leave behind. It is possible, however, to make mistakes while setting up trust funds in Pennsylvania. Knowing about these mistakes can save you a lot of stress and protect your assets.
Giving younger people full trust fund access
Many people make mistakes when they’re teenagers or young adults. Understandably, as much as you love your family members, some of them are better at managing money than others. Fortunately, a major perk of estate planning through trusts is that a trustor can choose when and why trustees can withdraw money instead of giving them unrestricted trust access at 18.
Not choosing the right trustee
A trustee is someone who receives legal power to administer the contents of a trust. In other words, this person or people have financial control over a trust’s contents. So, find a trustee who doesn’t mind delivering news about age restrictions or other limits of your trust fund. Being a trustee sounds fine until you have to tell another family member they can’t have their money.
Setting and forgetting a trust
With the protection a trust provides, it’s normal to feel at ease after creating one. But that comfort can turn into a trust fund mistake if you don’t regularly review your trustees. Countless situations occur where a trustor chooses someone to manage their trust only to check it a few years later and finds clear evidence of poor asset management.
Trusts help protect your finances, but not when they’re set up incorrectly. Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney today who can walk through these kinds of issues with you, as well as issues you probably have not even thought of yet. Take time to create your trust and go over it regularly to prevent unwanted stress for your beneficiaries.