Bluffton South Carolina Estate Planning Law Blog

Many South Carolina residents work long and hard to give themselves financial security during their working years and beyond, which includes, hopefully, a long, healthy and happy retirement. People are living longer, and retirement living is becoming more costly. Moreover, unexpected medical expenses can eat up sizeable chunks of money. However, if it is anticipated that an individual's estate assets will be considerable, estate planning becomes even more of a concern than it is for people with less property. Although a will can suffice as a means to designate which beneficiaries are to receive which estate assets, a trust can also do so but with more precision and control.

Even in the most basic of family scenarios, where a married couple has children, what happens to the couple's estate when one of the spouse passes can become problematic. One option is to leave everything to the other spouse with the assumption that he or she will then split whatever is left among the children. However, the surviving spouse can thereafter remarry and, perhaps, have other children. The picture then becomes murkier. Financial advisors often suggest a trust can provide more flexibility than a will for many of the 'what if" circumstances that may become a reality.

It may be easier for special needs individuals to retain access to government services if their assets are held in a trust. However, it is important that their South Carolina parents carefully structure the trust so that it is exempt from income and resource rules. Special needs trusts must irrevocable, for the benefit of only one person and can only pay for medical or dental needs not provided by other sources.

However, money inside of the trust can pay for a vacation, a video game console or anything else a special needs individual could want or need. The reason why special needs trusts are exempt is because the beneficiary cannot access the resources it holds or demand that they be distributed. Those who create special needs trusts should inform family members and others to make gifts to the trust as opposed to the beneficiary directly.

Trusts have helped many people in South Carolina plan for the future. By creating a trust, people can develop a plan that not only cares for their assets at the present time but can distribute them after death. Trusts give people much greater levels of control and flexibility in determining how their assets will be handled after they pass away. They allow people to make plans for legacies of generational wealth or create a mechanism for charitable giving and philanthropy. In addition, people who create trusts have much higher levels of privacy, as they are not considered public documents and do not go through the probate process.

Trusts also provide a more secure, trustworthy method of passing assets on to minor children. By naming a trustee, parents can ensure that their children have access to funds but will not receive their full inheritance until they are able to handle it. They may also be able to create conditions to give people access to these funds. They can also be very important for family members of people with special needs. Certain types of trusts allow people to pass on assets without hurting their loved ones' eligibility for key government programs.

There are no shortages of reasons why many South Carolina residents fail to complete the estate plan the vast majority of them fully understand they should and intend to establish. Of course, there is the uncomfortable thought of dealing with one's own mortality, but sooner or later everyone needs to confront that reality. And for many, there are difficult decisions or perhaps no good choices when it comes to dividing up assets among beneficiaries. But it's also true there is simply a common lack of understanding regarding what purpose individual estate planning documents serve and how they work together to protect the individual's interests.

Legal commentators point out a great deal of confusion exists because the terminology that has developed over the years has been anything but clear. For instance, a common form of trust that an average person or couple can employ may properly be called a 'living trust," but a 'will" and a 'living will" are two entirely different documents. Additionally, although a will and a trust are two distinct documents, both can accomplish many of the same estate planning objectives.