Model Maintenance Plan Clients
In January of 2009 my office established a maintenance plan for our trust cllients. This is a brief story of clients who have taken advanctage of their membership in the plan and who, in my opinion, are models for our plan.
Randy and Pam established their joint trust in 2007. They have two adult daughters, Kari and Erin. Kari is unmarried and has had drug and alcohol problems, which were ongoing in 2007. Erin is more stable but has been in a questionable marriage for several years. In their trust, Randy and Pam created separate trust shares for Kari and Erin. We call these "lifetime protective trusts" because they are designed to remain intact for the lifetime of the beneficiary, providing creditor and predator protection. For Erin, the major protection sought was divorce--such that Erin wouldn't co-mingle her inheritance or risk losing any of her inheritance in divorce. Because of her stability, Erin was chosen as trustee of her own trust share.
For Kari, greater protections were necessary due to her drug and alcohol dependence. First, Erin was appointed as trustee of Kari's share to assure that Kari couldn't control the funds. Second, the share was designed to be conservative, requiring the Trustee to make Kari look to her own income and assets before looking to the trust for support. Finally, the share required that Kari particiapte in drug and alocohol counseling.
Randy and Pam came in to see me in 2009, under our maintenance plan. They announced that Kari was better, not totally over the hump, however. So they designed Kari's trust somewhat differently. First, Erin would serve as sole trustee, but only for a period of 12 months. Then Kari would take over. Second, they removed the need for Kari to prove that she was engaged in alcohol and drug counseling as Randy and Pam stated that she had successfully undergone such treatment.
Most recently Randy and Pam returned to announce that Kari has put her life back together. They no longer want to distinguish between Kari's and Erin's shares. So their uddates will now have each serving as trustee of their own share, and all references to drug or alcolhol dependence in Kari's share have been removed.
If Kari relapses, or other events occur, then the Randy and Pam will update accordingly.
The existence of our maintenance plan has allowed Randy and Pam to update, keeping up with life's changes, under our very reasonably priced maintenance plan. They have not worried about being nickel and dimed to death, and I have welcomed their visits because I know they are staying on top of things and their plan will work in the event of death or disability. I wish and invite all of my clients to follow their lead!
