Most of our estate planning clients create a trust because they want to leave assets to children and loved ones in a trust that protects the assets from the child's or loved one's creditors and ex-spouses.  When we are hired to prepare an estate plan with a trust we prepare a revocable living trust that contains language that causes the successor trustee to create a beneficiary controlled asset protected trust (a BCAPT) for each child or loved one on the death of the trust maker or death of the second spouse if the trust is a joint trust.   See the contents and prices of our two estate plan packages.

If the future beneficiary of the BCAPT ever got sued the creditor could not touch the assets in the trust.  If the future beneficiary were to marry and get divorced the ex-spouse could not get any of the assets in the trust.  You cannot predict if your child or loved one will ever have a creditor or ex-spouse problem, but it is prudent to protect against these two problems.

It is also possible to create a BCAPT while you are alive if you want to transfer valuable assets to your child or loved one now before you die.  We prepare BCAPTs for people who want to give valuable assets to their children or loved ones now and protect the assets from their future creditors and ex-spouses.  To learn more about the BCAPT see my article called “Beneficiary Controlled Asset Protected Trusts.”