Living Trust and Children

[BatchMan]

I am 41 years old; my only wife for 21 years is 40. We have one 20-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. I have been reading "Wills" and "Revocable Living Trust" information for the last several days. I am a Virginia resident.

My question deals with holding distributions of our assets until our children each reach 25 years of age. If I establish a "Revocable Living Trust" and my wife and I are the trustees of the trust and the following happens:

1. I die before either child reaches 25
2. My wife dies later, but before either child reaches 25
3. Or we both die at the same time, before either child reaches 25

Will our "Revocable Living Trust" stay active until each child has reached 25? If so, will there need to be a "third" trustee with some kind of limited administration power.

Thanks

BM

 

[ALawyer]

It all depends on the way YOUR trust is written; typically the joint Living Trust makes the surviving spouse sole trustee and names standby or successor trustees if one or both can't handle it for any reason. It also specifies when the proceeds are to be paid out, and the discretion the trustee has before that time to distribute principal and interest.

 

[ELNbluemax2]

Just a reminder...income building up in a Trust is taxed at a much higher rate than ordinary income.