Use a revocable living trust if you're going to include minors in your estate plan

Attorney Tom Olsen: We've been probating some wills lately that we didn't do. They were done somewhere else. In those wills, money was left to minor children, children under the age of 18. People preparing wills go, "Hey, what's the big deal? I'll leave $50,000 to a three-year-old. What's the big deal? I want them to have that money for college," et cetera. Well, guess what? It is a big deal because you can't turn $50,000 over to a three-year-old.

Attorney Chris Merrill: Correct.

Tom: The Florida law does not allow their natural parent to hold that $50,000. So what happens now? They have to create a legal guardianship for that three-year-old. That's a big deal.

Chris: Correct.

Tom: Not only is it a big deal to set up that legal guardianship, but the law would require that that $50,000 be turned over to that three-year-old when they turn age 18. Not a good idea.

Chris: Correct.

Tom: People say, "Tom, hey, I want to leave money to my grandchildren. They're under age 18. How do I do it?" Well, you don't do it in a will. You do it in a trust.

Chris: Exactly. Exactly. That's where we know that we are counseling-- in particular, of course, this applies with grandparents. Why do we say that? Because if it's parents doing it for their minor children, they're doing it for different reasons and they have to do a trust. It's very often, for me anyway, that I am distinguishing for these grandparents: we can do wills for you and keep it simple if you are giving everything directly to your children and you are not giving things to anybody that is a minor. The minute they tell me that they insist on they want to give something to minor grandchildren or any other minors for that matter, I tell them I must do a trust for them.

Tom: Exactly. A trust is not that big a deal. We make it relatively easy.

Chris: Oh, absolutely.

Tom: It is definitely the way to proceed.

Chris: Required.

Tom: Hey, folks. My name is Tom Olsen. The name of the show is Olsen on Law. You're listening to WDBO.

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