{"id":631,"date":"2014-07-04T04:28:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-04T04:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pleasantonestateplanninglawyer.com\/blog\/?p=631"},"modified":"2022-06-22T16:42:46","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T16:42:46","slug":"trust-inheritance-provisions-to-protect-your-childrens-inheritance-from-in-laws-and-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pleasantonestateplanninglawyer.com\/blog\/trust-inheritance-provisions-to-protect-your-childrens-inheritance-from-in-laws-and-divorce","title":{"rendered":"Trust inheritance provisions to protect your children’s inheritance from in-laws and divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just because California is a community property State does not mean that an inheritance here is community property.<\/p>\n

For a married Californian, property received by gift or inheritance is separate property, not community property.<\/p>\n

For many parents, that fact alone is enough protection.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most\u00a0parents\u00a0have confidence that their children will do the \u201cright thing\u201d with the inheritance, be that keep it separate or commingle it.<\/p>\n

But many\u00a0parents fear that any number of \u201cbad results\u201d will follow from their son-in-law or daughter-in-law\u2019s influence over the inheritance. Some fear the inheritance may be lost in a divorce. Others fear that the in-law\u2019s children from a prior marriage may wind up with the inheritance. Many simply want to protect their child from a divorce or from a manipulative in-law. Such parents wonder what can be done to protect their child\u2019s inheritance.<\/p>\n

Here are two planning options\u00a0to help preserve the separate property character of your child\u2019s inheritance:<\/p>\n

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  1. Your trust could state your wishes that, before your child receive his or her inheritance, your consult privately with an attorney as to how to preserve the separate property character of the inheritance. In other words, you want your child to get an education about this before the trustee gives the inheritance.<\/li>\n
  2. Some parents believe that simply asking their child to get such an education before the inheritance is received will not work.\u00a0 Perhaps the child cannot withstand the ongoing pressure or manipulations of the spouse. Perhaps the child is incapable of following directions. Perhaps it would inevitable that the child would commingle the separate property with community property so as to make the inheritance \u201c50-50\u2033 community property. Perhaps, to the parents\u2019 dismay, \u00a0the child simply wants to make it \u201c50-50.\u201d For these parents, the options to explore involve leaving the child\u2019s inheritance in trust. While there are countless types of such trusts, what they all have in common is that the inheritance in trust remains separate property and is bound by the terms written by the parents for their child. For example, such a trust would spell out:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n