If your child struggles with addiction, compulsive spending, or simply lacks financial maturity, leaving them a lump sum inheritance can do more harm than good.
This doesn’t mean you love them any less. It means you want to protect them.
The right tool for this situation is often a spendthrift trust. It allows you to leave an inheritance while putting boundaries in place. A trustee manages the money. Distributions can be limited, delayed, or paused altogether depending on your child’s circumstances.
You can also include incentive provisions. For example: completing treatment, holding a job, or avoiding certain triggers. These provisions don’t guarantee change, but they create structure—and that structure often matters more than the amount of money involved.
In more serious cases, you can also name a co-trustee or hire a corporate trustee with experience managing high-risk beneficiary situations. This creates accountability, and it relieves another family member from having to play the enforcer.
We’ve worked with many parents facing these decisions. You are not alone. You are not being harsh. You are doing what good parents do—planning ahead to protect a child’s future, even when it’s hard.
At Fletcher Estate Planning, we help parents make tough decisions without judgment. You’re not just writing a will. You’re protecting your child’s future.
