November 20, 2020

Having an addict in your family can be a very difficult situation and this can prompt numerous concerns around the process of estate planning and naming someone as a beneficiary who might not be in a good position to receive or use funds. Creating a written revocable living trust, naming the person in question as a beneficiary can be one way to accomplish your estate planning goals and still protect that person.

You can require, for example, that the trustee make any necessity related payments directly to the provider rather than cash being given to the beneficiary. For example, this might include a mortgage company or a landlord or a health insurance company. You can set aside specific standards for the trustee of the account regarding disbursements.

Some of the most common categories that you can authorize for the trustee include maintenance, education, health and support. This leaves enough room for the trustee to make some discretion but can also require some certain level of standard of living or other needs.

Include a provision that will name the entity or person who will be eligible to receive any funds remaining in the trust if the family member in question were to pass away. These are complicated and important issues to consider from an estate planning perspective. These should always be discussed with a trusted and knowledgeable estate planning lawyer.