Protection of Minor and Incompetent Beneficiaries from Outright Inheritance Will Clause (2 Pages)
Even if the testator includes in the Will appropriate provisions protecting the expected beneficiaries until a supposed age of maturity is reached, it is always possible that an unanticipated order of deaths will create a beneficial interest in someone not anticipated who is a minor for whom no special trust provision was created, or it is possible that as the result of illness, injury, addiction or some other unanticipated problem, a beneficiary may be legally incompetent at the time the beneficial interest is to vest. Where any of these possibilities may occur, it is a good idea to have a “catch-all” clause in the Will that allows property otherwise passing to a minor or incompetent beneficiary to be held by fiduciaries for that beneficiary for so long as the period of minority or incompetence may continue.
1 Clause To Address The Following Issue:
CLAUSE 1: “Catch-all” Clause for Minor or Incompetent Beneficiaries
1 Clause To Address The Following Issue:
CLAUSE 1: “Catch-all” Clause for Minor or Incompetent Beneficiaries
Even if the testator includes in the Will appropriate provisions protecting the expected beneficiaries until a supposed age of maturity is reached, it is always possible that an unanticipated order of deaths will create a beneficial interest in someone not anticipated who is a minor for whom no special trust provision was created, or it is possible that as the result of illness, injury, addiction or some other unanticipated problem, a beneficiary may be legally incompetent at the time the beneficial interest is to vest. Where any of these possibilities may occur, it is a good idea to have a “catch-all” clause in the Will that allows property otherwise passing to a minor or incompetent beneficiary to be held by fiduciaries for that beneficiary for so long as the period of minority or incompetence may continue.
Author:
Steven G. Siegel is president of The Siegel Group, a Morristown, New Jersey - based national consulting firm specializing in tax consulting, estate planning and advising family business owners and entrepreneurs. Mr. Siegel holds a BS from Georgetown University, a JD from Harvard Law School and an LLM in Taxation from New York University.
He is the author of several books, including: Planning for An Aging Population; Business Entities: Start to Finish; Taxation of Divorce and Separation; Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts, Preparing the Audit-Proof Federal Estate Tax Return, Putting It Together: Planning Estates for $5 million and Less, Family Business Succession Planning, Business Acquisitions: Representing Buyers and Sellers in the Sale of a Business; Dynasty Trusts; Planning with Intentionally-Defective Grantor Trusts; The Federal Gift Tax: A Comprehensive Analysis; Charitable Remainder Trusts, Grantor Trust Planning: QPRTs, GRATs and SCINs, The Estate Planning Course, The Retirement Planning Course, Retirement Distributions: Estate and Tax Planning Strategies; The Estate Administration Course, Tax Strategies for Closely-Held Businesses, and Tort Litigation Settlements: Tax and Financial Issues.
Mr. Siegel has lectured extensively throughout the United States on tax, business and estate planning topics on behalf of numerous organizations, including National Law Foundation, AICPA, CCH, National Tax Institute, National Society of Accountants, and many others. He has served as an adjunct professor of law at Seton Hall and Rutgers University law schools.
The Siegel Group provides consulting services to accountants, attorneys, financial planners and life insurance professionals to assist them with the tax, estate and business planning and compliance issues confronting their clients. Based in Morristown, New Jersey, the Group has provided services throughout the United States. The Siegel Group does not sell any products. It is an entirely fee-based organization. Contact the Siegel Group through its president, Steven G. Siegel, e-mail: [email protected].