Control From the Grave #estateplanning #assetprotectionplanning #trusts

7 Mar 2023 · 1 min

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In this brief presentation, the speaker explains the concept of "dead hand control"—the practice of influencing heirs after death through trusts that condition inheritance on specific behaviors or achievements. He provides examples such as tying inheritance to sobriety or requiring annual W‑2 forms, and recounts a cautionary case where a trust paid a son $250,000 upon each marriage, which he exploited through multiple divorces. The speaker emphasizes that such provisions must be drafted precisely to avoid unintended outcomes and advises using a professional estate‑planning attorney. He concludes by inviting viewers to subscribe to his LinkedIn newsletter for further learning.

Chapters

Many people come to me asking me to give them dead hand control. Yes, I have that power. Dead hand control is where people try to control their families, their kids, their heirs from the grave. Typically, this is done through a trust where the inheritance or disbursements are conditioned upon achieving certain goals. An example of this would be where parents of an alcoholic child tied their inheritance to their sobriety, or where the trust required a child to produce their W-2 form each year and they would receive a like amount of their inheritance. But these provisions must be drafted correctly. And take the case of the family who put in their trust that their son would receive $250,000 when he got married. So when the son did get married, he was paid $250,000, then paid his wife $50,000, divorced her, and did that 12 more times. So the message here is if you want to have influence on your family from the grave, even with good intentions, let a professional handle it. And if you want to learn everything there is to learn, subscribe to my newsletter on my profile page in my LinkedIn tree.