MomsRules

Blind Trusts: Good, Bad, & Ugly

Glancing at one of the top asset planning tools of the politicians and celebrities, you may have come across the term "Blind Trust."

A blind trust is typically a trust where the beneficiary has no discretion about the management of its assets.   Bill and Hillary Clinton had one which they terminated in 2007, before the financial crash.  Read the Washington Post article here.

The beneficiary does not have anything to do with its day-to-day management, or its investments.

It's good if you have a beneficiary whose assets need to be protected, such as a child with a disability or mental illness.  It is also a good asset protection tool.

The beneficiary generally does not know what is in the trust in terms of the assets or what the trustee is doing.   The trustee on the other hand, does not have any reporting requirements to the beneficiary. However, the trustee may be required to report to a third party.  This can get ugly if the trustee mis-manages the trust assets.

Mina N. Sirkin is a Family Wealth Lawyer in Los Angeles, CA and a TV legal expert in areas of inheritance, estate planning and conservatorships.  MSirkin@SirkinLaw.com.  http://www.SirkinLaw.com.

Is any change in life good?

 

Is any change in life good?

One of my 2009 resolutions is to explore and interview peple about how they feel about any change in life?

Here is what people have told me so far:

1.   Change in life is good as long as you are willing to have a fluid view of life.

2.   Change just for the sake of change is not meaningful unless you put it to good use.

3.   There is a direct route to change and an indirect route to change.   The first one is faster.

4.   The more change life deals you, the more flexible you become.

5.   What in your life needs change depends entirely on your view of yourself and your life.

6.   Change in life style gets harder as you age.

7.   Those who can go with the flow tend to believe that change is beneficial.

8.   The younger generation seems to think that change is not likely to happen.

9.   The older generation seems to think that change is inevitable in life.

Comment with what you think of change.

Mina Sirkin

Family Wealth Lawyer

Los Angeles, California

http://www.SirkinLaw.com