We got cut out

23 Aug 2024 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:51

In this short legal‑advice segment, a viewer (Speaker A) asks what can be done after their late father’s revocable trust was altered by the surviving stepmother, who cut the children out and redirected assets to her own children. The responder explains that a revocable trust gives the surviving spouse full authority to amend or revoke the trust, meaning the children have little recourse once the spouse has changed it. The speaker notes that the only way the father could have protected the children’s share would have been to place part of the estate in an irrevocable trust, which the spouse could receive income from during her life but could not alter, ensuring the assets pass to the children after her death. The responder directs viewers to a Linktree for further assistance and a newsletter, emphasizing that the current situation offers limited options and that future estate planning should consider irrevocable trusts to safeguard beneficiaries.

Chapters

My dad died and left everything to my stepmother in a revocable trust. And now that he's gone, she's changed everything about the trust, cut us out, and is leaving everything to her kids. What can we do to make sure we get what my dad intended for us to have? Unfortunately, not much. When everything is left to a surviving spouse in a revocable trust, the surviving spouse can change that trust in any way they want, including cutting you and your siblings out of the trust completely. Go to my Linktree and you can learn more by working with me or by getting my newsletter. I don't know what was explained to your dad, but he could have left half of the estate in an irrevocable trust that would have protected that share for his children. The surviving spouse could have received income from this trust for life, but at her death, everything in that irrevocable trust could have gone to you and your siblings.