Trusts and Estates
Ca. Trs. & Estates Quarterly Volume 12, Issue 1, Spring 2006
Content
- RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN OWNERSHIP RULES: WHAT T & E PRACTITIONERS SHOULD KNOW
- California Trusts and Estates Quarterly Rumors of Their Death Are Greatly Exaggerated: the Pre-death Will Contest and Other Strategies In Conservatorship Litigation
- Discretionary Distributions: To Pay or Not To Pay?
- Putting An End To the Shirtsleeves-to-shirtsleeves Phenomenon: a New Wealth Management Paradigm
- HELPING THE INCAPACITATED CLIENT: A RESPONSE TO WARREN SINSHEIMER'S "IN THIS LAWYER'S OPINION"
- Beyond Traditional Estate Planning: Addressing the Personal Impact of Inherited Wealth
BEYOND TRADITIONAL ESTATE PLANNING: ADDRESSING THE PERSONAL IMPACT OF INHERITED WEALTH
By William Soskin, Attorney/CPA*
Traditional estate planning involves minimizing estate taxes, reducing administrative costs and drafting documents to accomplish non-tax goals. However, well-written documents do not assure clients that their heirs will use transferred wealth constructively and lead meaningful, happy and fulfilling lives. The transfer of substantial wealth will have a significant impact on the recipient. A critical question a transferor needs to ask is what can be done to maximize the possibility that the recipient will not be adversely affected by this wealth transfer or, conversely, how wealth can enhance the well-being and behavior of the inheritor. This article explores how parents and other transferors can better make the transfer of wealth a constructive and positive event.
I. UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF WEALTH
When questioned, parents often voice serious concerns outside the scope of traditional estate planning about wealth transfers, such as the following: