Guardianship & Management for Beneficiaries Under Age 18

Questions about guardianship and management for those under the age of eighteen are quite common.

While your beneficiaries are minors — that is, under age 18 — the trustee can manage and invest the trust funds, free of the oftentimes considerable costs and restrictions that arise when a Probate court must appoint and supervise a guardian of the property until the beneficiary reaches the age of majority.

Furthermore, a guardianship terminates upon the beneficiary reaching age 18.

Obviously, all children do not mature at the same rate, and it is thus not always a good idea to have a young adult gain control of significant assets at that age. 

With a revocable living trust, management of a beneficiary’s assets can continue beyond the age of 18, free of Probate court involvement, to whatever age you specify. For example, you can easily dictate that at age 18 the trust beneficiary be given 25% of the assets, another 25% at age 22 and the remaining 50% at age 25, if that is your wish.

Trust v. Will?

People often ask about the difference between a will and a trust. 

There are numerous benefits to executing a revocable living trust as opposed to a last will and testament, in particular the following three:

1. Probate: Once property is transferred into a revocable living trust, it does not go through Probate
   
2. Privacy: Unlike a last will and testament, a revocable living trust is a private document, and is thus not published
   
3. Control and Simplification: In addition to a revocable living trust not complicating the management of your assets during your lifetime, it also simplifies the transfer of your estate to your beneficiaries upon your death