Your Spouse’s Next Spouse #assetprotectionplanning #trusts

11 Jul 2023 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:00

In this short presentation, estate‑planning attorney Jerry Taylor explains why a surviving spouse’s future remarriage, divorce, or financial troubles can jeopardize the assets a decedent intended for their children. He outlines the risks—new spouse influence, divorce decrees, creditor claims, and bankruptcy—that can divert or deplete the inheritance. Taylor then introduces a protective trust as a solution: the trust can allocate a portion of the estate for the surviving spouse’s income while locking the remaining principal for the children. By structuring the trust appropriately, the grantor can ensure that, regardless of the spouse’s later life events, the core assets will ultimately reach the intended heirs.

Chapters

So how can you keep your spouse's next spouse from spending all your money after you're gone? If you're part of a couple, one of you is probably going to die first. And a lot of people who come to see me have the concern that the money they leave behind may never make it to their kids. If you die first, your spouse may get married again. There's a good chance they will. The person they marry may have a lot of influence over them, and at some point your money may end up getting spent. For that matter, the person they marry may end up divorcing them, and then your money may be subject to a divorce decree. Your spouse could end up having financial difficulties down the road, which could put your money at risk of creditors and bankruptcies. There is no way to know what's gonna happen with the money that you leave behind unless you plan to protect it. This trust can be structured any way you want. You can leave some money to your surviving spouse and then put the rest in this trust for your kids. Your spouse can receive income from that trust during their lifetime. But with a protective trust like this, you would know, come hell or high water, that the money you put in it would make it to your kids one day.