The future is unpredictable. One of the sticking points for many people looking to establish an estate plan is the seeming finality of it all. How can your plan keep up with the changing needs and habits of your loved ones? Is there any way to plan for life’s possibilities? The answer is yes.
Naturally, any plan you make can be amended during your lifetime. The difficulty lies in creating a plan that will reflect your values and preferences even after you are gone. Fortunately, there are methods we can use to build an estate plan that will be flexible enough to adapt to the unknowable future. Using life events, conditional statements, and prerequisites, your estate plan can continue to connect your values to the disposition of your estate.
The Power of Conditional Statements
A conditional statement, sometimes called an “if-then” statement, allows you to make an estate plan that triggers action only if a condition you set comes to pass. They are one of the most powerful tools in estate planning.
One common example would be a clause that states, “If my spouse has predeceased me, then my house will pass to my children in equal shares.” The house will pass to your spouse if your spouse is still alive. If not, the house goes to your kids. It’s a simple way to avoid having to amend your estate plan based on your spouse’s passing away before you do.
That example is relatively simple. Conditional statements can be stacked one on top of another to create a complex decision-making tree that accounts for a wide range of circumstances. If your spouse is deceased, then the estate passes to your daughter. If your daughter is under 18, then the estate will be held in trust. With conditional statements such as these, the plan accounts for your spouse’s survival and your daughter’s age.
Life Events and Achievements Can Be Covered, Too
Instead of or in addition to conditional statements, you may want to tailor your estate plan for key events or accomplishments in your beneficiaries’ lives. Typically, such a bequest will be tied to a major event such as:
- Milestone birthdays: Estate plans often include elements that are tied to a child coming of age, either 18 or 21, when they become legally able to make decisions about the best way to use money or property.
- Finishing an education: Parents may choose to use their estate plans to encourage children to complete their education. Tying a gift to a child completing a university degree, trade school, or an apprenticeship can serve as encouragement to focus on a strong future.
- Buying a house: If you want to help a beneficiary make the transition from renting to buying, you could build that into your estate plan.
- Getting married: Weddings are expensive. You may want to help defray those costs by tying a gift to a beneficiary’s first wedding.
- Starting a family: Your estate plan can help cover the expense of your beneficiary having children.
- Getting a job: If you are concerned that the estate could derail the ambition or achievement of your beneficiary, you may choose to tie the inheritance to a career goal, such as getting and maintaining gainful employment.
- Planning to retire: You can time a gift to the end of a beneficiary’s working career, easing the worry over what can be a difficult transition for many.
- Health and lifestyle goals: You may be concerned that your legacy may further self-destructive behavior in your loved ones. Problems with drugs or alcohol could be made worse by a sudden infusion of cash. It is possible to create an estate plan that ties an inheritance to sobriety or a rehabilitation program.
As with conditional statements, these events and goals can be stacked or amended to account for almost any situation you can imagine. Negative life events like divorce, criminal prosecution, or bankruptcy can be included to make your plan more flexible. For example, you might give wedding money to a child, but keep the rest of their inheritance in a trust so that if your child gets divorced, the money and property you pass on will not end up in the hands of their ex-spouse.
Another option is to set up your estate plan to direct more money to someone if the value of a certain account or property rises. Or, if the account over performs, the increase in value could be donated to a charity of your choice. You could also use an if-then statement to provide that a beneficiary receives an extra gift only if they meet a certain milestone. The options are nearly endless.
There Is No Reason to Delay Creating an Estate Plan
You can never predict the future with any degree of certainty. Luckily, with the right assistance, you can create an estate plan that anticipates many of the conditions that can affect you and your loved ones. Your plan may end up longer and more complex than you imagined it would be, but it will also be more adaptable and dependable.
You need something in place to ensure that your legacy is protected. At the Law Office of Janet L. Brewer, we can help you consider the possibilities to build the right estate plan for you.
To discuss your estate planning in California, call 650-325-8276 or contact us online. With an experienced estate planning attorney on your side, you can be confident that you have a plan that properly reflects your wishes, even as life grows and changes. Our firm is conveniently located in Los Altos.
