Many families today are living with trusts that their ancestors established decades ago. In each case, there’s a definition of “family,” either explicitly written into the trust or, by default, applied by its governing law. There are innumerable ways that these trusts might define which family members are eligible to be beneficiaries and/ or remaindermen of each trust.
What does “family” mean to you? I’m sure each of you has a different answer when it comes to this simple question. This word can get a bit complicated in a law, a contract, a will, a trust, and so on.
It’s hard to find an estate plan that has nothing to do with family, and the great majority of them are all about family, so how could there be any ambiguity? WealthManagement tracks some of the practical problems in a recent article titled, “What is a “Family?””.
You see, the problems with the definitions of family have less to do with federal or state law (unlike “marriage”) because it can be defined by the person actually planning his or her estate.
The original article discusses three different contexts and each only muddies the definitions of family. For example, consider a “family trust” established in 1910 to serve multiple generations. Did the person establishing such a trust foresee what the family would look like in 2013 after divorces, second marriages, children out of wedlock, same-sex partners and all other manners of contemporary occurrences?
What is a trustee of such a “family trust” to do?
Are we any better in imagining the future as we write our own estate plans today? If you think about it, even without considering the social mores matters, there are potential family problems whenever a trust lasts for multiple generations. After all, with every generation that comes along the number of potential beneficiaries that comes along tends to grow exponentially. Over time, each generation is less related
and less connected to the others and the original maker of the trust.
All of this highlights the importance of working with an experienced estate planning attorney.
So what is “family” to you and is that what your documents say in their black and white?
Reference: WealthManagement.com (June 28, 2013) “What is a “Family?””
