For years, many people thought of estate planning in fairly simple terms: I need a will so my family knows who gets what. A will is still an important estate planning document, but families are increasingly asking a different question:
What happens to my assets after my children inherit them?
Maybe you don't want a 21-year-old receiving a large inheritance all at once. Perhaps you have a blended family and want to provide for your spouse while making sure your children are considered in the plan. You may have a child who is financially responsible and another who needs more support. You might simply want to make things easier for your family when you're gone.
Those are some of the reasons trusts are becoming a larger part of estate planning conversations.
A recent InvestmentNews article, “Estate planning drives 1 in 6 legal calls as trust demand surges”, reported that estate planning now accounts for roughly one in six legal inquiries in data analyzed by LegalShield Intelligence. Questions about trusts have grown sevenfold over the past decade and now represent nearly one in five estate planning calls. InvestmentNews
Those numbers caught our attention because they reflect something we see in estate planning conversations too. Families aren't necessarily looking for more complicated plans. They are looking for plans that better reflect the realities of their lives.
Why Are More Families Asking About Trusts?
According to the InvestmentNews article, LegalShield attributed some of the growing interest in trusts to issues such as blended families, property in multiple states, and parents who want to structure inheritances over time. The article also points to a much larger generational shift, citing an estimate from Cerulli Associates that $124 trillion in wealth could transfer in the United States through 2048. InvestmentNews
That doesn't mean trusts are only for families transferring millions of dollars.
A trust can be useful because it allows you to provide instructions about what happens to property, who manages it, and under what circumstances beneficiaries receive it. For many families, the question isn't "Am I wealthy enough for a trust?" A better question is "What do I want my estate plan to accomplish?"
What Can a Trust Do That a Will Cannot?
A will generally directs the distribution of probate assets after death. It can name beneficiaries, nominate a personal representative, and address other important matters.
A trust can provide another level of planning. Instead of simply saying, "My daughter receives her inheritance," a trust can establish how those assets should be managed and when distributions should be made.
That distinction becomes important when you don't want an inheritance distributed outright. For example, imagine leaving $300,000 to a 19-year-old grandchild. The question isn't whether you love or trust that grandchild. The question is whether handing a 19-year-old $300,000 is the way you want to provide for them.
A trust may allow you to create a structure around that inheritance rather than requiring an immediate lump-sum distribution.
Do My Children Have to Receive Everything at Once?
No. This is one of the reasons parents often become interested in trust planning.
A trust can be drafted to provide distributions over time or give a trustee discretion to use assets for a beneficiary according to the terms you establish. Some parents initially imagine specific ages:
One-third at 25, another portion at 30, and the remainder at 35.
That is one possible approach, but age-based distributions aren't the only option. Some families would rather allow assets to remain in trust longer while giving the trustee authority to make appropriate distributions based on the beneficiary's needs and the trust's instructions.
The right structure depends on what you're trying to accomplish.
What If One Child Is Good With Money and Another Isn't?
Fair doesn't always have to mean identical. One adult child may have a stable career, healthy finances, and years of experience managing money. Another may struggle with spending, debt, addiction, unstable relationships, or simply a lack of financial maturity.
Leaving both children an inheritance doesn't necessarily mean the inheritance has to be managed in exactly the same way. A properly structured trust may allow an inheritance to remain under management rather than requiring everything to be distributed directly to a beneficiary. That can provide the beneficiary with support while also giving the family a framework for how the assets should be managed.
This type of planning requires thoughtful drafting. The goal isn't to control an adult child's life from the grave. It is to consider the beneficiary you actually have and determine what kind of inheritance structure makes sense for that person.
What If My Child Gets Divorced?
Parents frequently ask this question. You may want your child to inherit what you've built, but that doesn't necessarily mean you intend for those assets to become part of a future divorce dispute.
Trust planning may provide options for keeping inherited assets under a more structured arrangement rather than distributing everything outright. The result depends heavily on how the trust is drafted, how assets are handled, and the beneficiary's circumstances. A trust should not be viewed as a guarantee against every future creditor, lawsuit, divorce, or financial problem.
Still, if protecting an inheritance from risks a beneficiary may encounter is important to you, that concern belongs in the estate planning conversation.
What About Blended Families and Second Marriages?
Trust planning can become especially important when a family includes children from previous relationships. Consider a fairly common situation.
Dad wants his wife to be financially secure if he dies first. He also wants the assets he accumulated over his lifetime eventually to benefit his children from his first marriage. Simply leaving everything outright to his wife may not accomplish both goals.
Once she owns those assets, circumstances can change. She could update her own estate plan, remarry, spend the assets, or leave what remains to different beneficiaries. That doesn't mean the surviving spouse has done anything wrong. It means Dad's original goal depended on what another person chose to do later. A trust may provide a way to support a surviving spouse while establishing what should happen to remaining assets afterward.
Blended-family planning can be particularly sensitive, so the documents should reflect the actual relationships and goals rather than relying on assumptions about what everyone will do in the future.
Can a Trust Help a Beneficiary With a Disability?
Potentially, but this is an area where the type of trust matters tremendously. Leaving assets directly to a person with a disability can sometimes affect eligibility for means-tested government benefits. A properly structured special needs trust may allow assets to be used for a beneficiary while addressing those benefit considerations. This isn't something families should try to solve by simply adding a sentence to a standard trust. The beneficiary's benefits, assets, needs, age, and other circumstances should be reviewed so the planning strategy fits the individual.
If you have a child or other beneficiary with a disability, tell your estate planning attorney early in the conversation. It may significantly affect how an inheritance should be structured.
Can a Trust Continue for My Children or Grandchildren?
It can, depending on how the trust is designed. Some families don't want the estate plan to end with the first distribution after death. They may want assets managed for children over a longer period or want remaining assets to eventually benefit grandchildren.
That can be especially relevant for families who have accumulated a business, investments, real estate, or other assets they hope will benefit more than one generation. Long-term trust planning involves trade-offs. Greater control can also mean greater administrative responsibility for the trustee. Tax considerations may become more complicated. The family also has to decide how much flexibility future trustees and beneficiaries should have. The fact that something can be placed in a long-term trust doesn't automatically mean it should be. The plan should match the family's goals.
Who Should You Choose as Trustee?
Creating the trust is only part of the decision. Someone has to administer it. A trustee may be responsible for managing investments and other property, keeping records, making distributions, communicating with beneficiaries, filing appropriate tax returns, and following the instructions contained in the trust.
Choosing your oldest child because they are the oldest isn't always the best approach. Think about temperament as much as financial knowledge. Can this person be organized? Can they follow instructions? Will they communicate with the other beneficiaries? Can they make a difficult decision without turning a family disagreement into a larger conflict? Will they treat beneficiaries fairly when the trust gives them discretion?
For some families, a relative is an appropriate trustee. In other circumstances, a professional or institutional trustee may be worth considering. The right choice depends on the trust and the people involved.
A Trust Only Works If the Rest of the Plan Works With It
One of the biggest misconceptions about trusts is that signing the document finishes the job. It may not. Depending on the type of trust and the plan, assets may need to be properly titled or otherwise coordinated with the trust. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance should also be reviewed. Your will, Power of Attorney, healthcare documents, deeds, and other planning documents need to work together.
Imagine spending the time and money to create a trust but never addressing the assets that were supposed to be part of the plan. That can produce a very different result from what you intended. Trust funding and coordination aren't administrative afterthoughts. They are part of the estate planning process.
Do I Need a Trust?
Not everyone does. A trust is a tool, not a measure of how sophisticated or wealthy your estate plan is. Some families can accomplish their goals with a well-prepared will, Powers of Attorney, healthcare documents, and properly coordinated beneficiary designations. Other families have circumstances that make a trust particularly useful.
Questions worth discussing include:
- Do you want beneficiaries to receive their inheritance immediately?
- Do you have minor children or grandchildren?
- Do you have a beneficiary with a disability or other special circumstances?
- Are you concerned about how a beneficiary manages money?
- Do you have children from a previous relationship?
- Are you in a second marriage?
- Do you own real estate in more than one state?
- Do you want assets managed for beneficiaries over a longer period?
- Who would manage your affairs if you became incapacitated?
- Do your current assets and beneficiary designations actually match your estate plan?
The answers help determine whether a trust belongs in the conversation and, just as importantly, what kind of trust might be appropriate.
Already Have a Trust? Don't Put It on a Shelf and Forget About It
Your estate plan should change when your life changes. A trust prepared 10 or 15 years ago may have been appropriate when it was signed. Since then, your children may have grown up, grandchildren may have been born, a beneficiary may have married or divorced, your financial circumstances may have changed, or the people you selected to serve as trustee may no longer be the people you would choose today.
Your assets may have changed too. An estate plan review gives you an opportunity to look at the trust alongside your will, Powers of Attorney, healthcare documents, beneficiary designations, and property ownership. The question isn't simply whether you have a trust. The better question is whether the plan you have today still does what you want it to do.
How Vick Law Can Help
At Vick Law, we don't begin with the assumption that every client needs a trust. We begin by asking what matters to you. Who are you trying to provide for? What concerns do you have about an inheritance? Are there children from a previous relationship? Is there someone in the family who needs additional support? Do you want your children to receive everything immediately, or would you prefer a structure that continues after your death?
Those conversations help determine which estate planning tools make sense.
For some families, that may include a revocable living trust. Others may need a different type of trust or may find that their goals can be accomplished without one.
If you live in Greenwood, Center Grove, Johnson County, Franklin Township, or Southside Indianapolis and have been wondering whether a trust should be part of your estate plan, Vick Law can help you understand the options, discuss the trade-offs, and develop a plan tailored to your circumstances. Book a call with Vick Law today.
Vick Law, P.C.
3209 W. Smith Valley Rd., Suite 113
Greenwood, IN 46142
(317) 884-3133
VickLaw.org
Key Takeaways
- Trusts aren't only for the very wealthy. The more important question is whether a trust helps accomplish your family's particular goals.
- A trust can provide more structure around an inheritance. Families may use trusts to manage when and how beneficiaries receive assets.
- Different beneficiaries may need different planning. Age, financial maturity, disability, blended-family relationships, and other circumstances can affect how an inheritance should be structured.
- Choosing a trustee deserves careful thought. The person or institution administering the trust may have significant financial and family responsibilities.
- Signing a trust isn't necessarily the end of the process. Asset ownership, beneficiary designations, and other estate planning documents may need to be coordinated with it.
- Estate plans should be reviewed as life changes. A trust that made sense years ago may no longer reflect your family, assets, or priorities.
This article is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice or create an attorney-client relationship. The appropriate estate planning strategy depends on individual circumstances, goals, assets, family relationships, and current law.
Reference: InvestmentNews (Aug. 7, 2026) "Estate planning drives 1 in 6 legal calls as trust demand surges"
