Trust Attorney Las Vegas | Trusts For Addicts And Alcoholics?
Hello and welcome to the trusted podcast. This is Blake Johnson. I’m your host and I am an Trust Attorney Las Vegas here in Las Vegas, Nevada. And today I want to talk about, uh, doing estate planning and trusts, uh, for kids or heirs that are addicts, whether it’s drug abuse, alcohol abuse, um, prescription drugs, anything like that, we can plan ahead to make sure that, um, they’re not gonna, you know, take their own life with overdose if they get a whole bunch of money and it’s a somber topic, but, um, I think it’s more common that a thing that people faced and then you would, might think. So. Uh, I just wanted to bring that up today. So what do we do for, uh, specifically estate planning for those, um, errors that are gonna have addiction problems? Uh, one of the first things we do is, um, and hopefully you know that your Trust Attorney Las Vegas does this as well as we’d put a clause in the trust that says that an heir has drug or alcohol or any other, uh, addiction problems that the, that they as the trustee can withhold their share, withhold any distributions until those, um, till that addiction is taking, uh, taking care of.
And that’s really you complete as specific as you want as far as what that means or you can keep it general and we’ll leave it up to the trustee’s discretion. So the trust can, can say that, you know, they have to pass a drug test once a month for 12 months and be clean all 12 in a row. Um, or it could be, you know, six months, three months, whatever you want to do with, in your trust. Um, or you can, like I said, you can leave it up to the trustee’s discretion for them to know, okay, they know whether or not this person is actually, you know, a drug, drug or alcohol free, or at least they don’t have the addiction. And have the risk of overdose. Uh, another thing we can do is have the trust set up so that it pays out for their benefit for things like their house and their car.
Um, and then golden gives them a small amount each month for groceries and that, or even you could even say that the trustee is to buy all the groceries for them so that their money never actually goes into the addict’s hands. So they can’t, um, you know, be tempted to even go use it for those things. Uh, that obviously creates a lot more work. Um, you’re going to have to have a family member who’s going to be willing to do that because a third party trust company, um, is not gonna typically be willing to do that kind of small, detailed stuff. It’s a lot more work. So you’ve got to have somebody you trust that’s actually gonna follow through on that to be the trustee and somebody who’s willing to put in that effort. So usually a sibling or you know, like an aunt, an uncle or a niece or nephew, something like that, that is willing to step in.
And serve as that trustee of the trust and to, to carry out those things. Um, another way you could do it is if, if you feel like they’re okay, but you know, if they get a big influx money, then they’re gonna worry about him. Um, within the trust you can specify that their distribution, um, be a monthly amount. So it’s just, you know, a small monthly amount to pay their bills. Uh, and then that way they don’t have any extra or a big chunk of money to go out and blow and, and do something dumb with. Another thing for planning for addicts is, um, you know, making sure, you know, you could set up things like, uh, um, say that the house is not to be sold so that the person always has a place to live and the rest is on their own. Um, you could even say that they have to do periodic drug testing, you know, at least once a year Trust Attorney Las Vegas, randomly chosen by the trustee.
You could S really specify anything that you want, that you think of that would be, um, a way to help make sure that that person that you want to leave your assets to is not going to squander the Wellpoint first of all. And that they’re, um, actually, you know, taking care of themselves. So whatever things you want to put in there, um, you know, we can, we can craft the trust, uh, to be able to do that. Um, because it’s, you know, really doesn’t do them. Um, a whole lot of good to get that money and then to squander it or to, um, you know, how to go up their nose or, or down in bottle and, um, you know, risks that person’s life. So, uh, really important that if you do have a child that struggles with addiction of any kind that you make, that you’re, uh, you talked to your Trust Attorney Las Vegas and make them aware of that situation Trust Attorney Las Vegas.
Um, I know a lot of these things are personal. We don’t want to bring it up. But, uh, as, as an attorney myself, I want to know those details because that’s the best way that I can help craft a plan a and a state plan that’s gonna actually do what you need and going to be the best fit and situation for your family or for those airs that you set up. So, you know, uh, you know, we won’t judge you. We don’t worry about that. We’re there to help you, uh, establish an estate plan that’s going to help, um, accomplish your, your desires and your needs. And so the more information that we have, um, uh, as attorneys as, especially as a state planning attorneys, the better off that we’re going to be. Uh, everything that you share with us is confidential. It’s an attorney, client relationship, uh, by law.
We cannot disclose that information, uh, without your prior authorization to, to anyone. Um, you know, unless it’s something that’s threatened somebody life or you know, there’s a few other exceptions, but for the most part, um, when you, when you hire an Trust Attorney Las Vegas or any attorney, then, um, you know, they are bound to attorney client privilege to help keep things confidential unless you specify that they can discuss those matters with another person. So that’s a state planning for, uh, for addicts. And for those who are alcoholics or any other kind of, uh, drug or alcohol abuse problems, um, you know, main thing is be open with your state planning attorney. Um, you know, let’s put some safeguards in place and, uh, you know, the more specific you can be, the better off, um, you know, that person’s gonna be and hopefully it gives them the motivation to get the help that they need. You can even specify within the trust that the trust will pay for rehab, um, and that, uh, they have to be there for, you know, however many months that you want to put in there to help them correct that problem. So that’s another option as well. So that’s it for today. For estate planning with the, with addicts. Hopefully you found that helpful and, um, tune in next time too to hear even more tips on how to make your state plan work for you.