My daughter’s inheritance
My daughter is 31. I love her dearly, she loves me. She lives currently 2 miles from me. . She does not want to have a relationship with me, never had one. She is an alcoholic. Do I leave her money? She’s not responsible with money. Will she drink it away? When I need her, she’s not there for me. Of course I am very, very hurt. Please ease my mind on what I should do.
Thank you
Terry Says
Wow, this is a pretty personal situation. I feel more like Ask Amy than Terry Talks Money!
So let me make some assumptions, and if I’m wrong, please write back and give me more details.
I’m assuming you have no other relatives you choose to not only leave your money to, but who would be there for you if you needed help (that is, in case of hospitalization, or a stroke or other important financial decisions about your care if you were incapacitated.)
That issue — a trusted person — is the first you must confront before worrying about the money! You need to consult an estate planning attorney to create a Revocable Living Trust — and to do that you must NAME A SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE who could act on your behalf if you were incapacitated. I know you do not trust your daughter in that role. But do you have someone else?
If you do, then get started on that Revocable Living Trust — which acts as an estate plan at death, but provides for the above issues while you are alive. And as part of creating that RLT, you could create a trust that would pay a specific amount to your daughter each year, and be invested only in bank CDs before being distributed annually.
Please write back if I’ve missed your real issue here.
