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ASK ELAINE
Dear
Elaine,
I have some beautiful jewelry pieces that have been in
my family for a number of years. I want to make sure
my
granddaughter has them when I die, but her mother
is very selfish and has always had
her eye on them. What should I do
to make sure my granddaughter
does end up with these items? By the way, I gave her
a necklace a couple of years ago
and her mother took it and still has it. When I asked her
mother why she was wearing it,
she said the necklace looks better on her. Do you know what
steps I should take to make sure my granddaughter gets these jewelry
pieces? I was told I have less than six months to live and want to
do the right thing.
Mrs. C
Dear Mrs. C,
What a joy it must bring you to have such treasures
that can be passed down through generations!
You are in a very difficult situation and I am in a
difficult one
as well, since you provided very limited information on your
predicament. Based on the information you provided, I am going to
make the assumption that your granddaughter is still a minor
living with her mother. I will
also assume that you have your will and other areas of your
end-of-life planning complete.
In your will, you can identify your granddaughter as
the person
who is to receive these jewelry pieces
upon your death, but you won't be
able to keep her mother from taking the jewelry from her. So, I
would suggest that the best way
to handle this situation is
to create a trust. A trust is a
separate legal entity through which property is held for
someone's benefit and protection.
Your
granddaughter should be named the beneficiary
and you will want to appoint
someone, other than her mother,
as the trustee of this trust. This person should
be someone you know will carry out your wishes and will not be
influenced by your daughter or her
mother. This person must also be
able to understand and fulfill their role as the trustee and
safeguard the jewelry for the
benefit of your granddaughter. Be sure to include a detailed
description along with photographs of the individual pieces. With
this trust you can set forth the
requirements that must be met for your granddaughter to
receive her gifts. You should determine at what age your granddaughter
will be given the jewelry. You
may also want to consider
including a requirement that the jewelry will not be released
to your granddaughter while she is living with her mother. You will
want to think very carefully about
the requirements and restrictions that will control this
trust.
The only downside to this solution is that your granddaughter will
not be able to enjoy the gift until she has met the eligibility
requirements you define in the trust.
Elaine
Send your questions to Elaine, the
Genesee Senior Housing Specialist, through your local senior Center.
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Elaine Simpson, the Genesee Senior Housing Specialist, welcomes your questions as they relate to phasing down, housing options and lifestyle transitions. Elaine has over 22 years experience working with seniors and addressing their housing needs. Using this knowledge, she founded two great companies that are geared toward the needs of our mature population: Senior Options and Services, LLC, to provide lifestyle transition services for seniors and their families, as well as Buckingham Real Estate, LLC, Michigan's only real estate company exclusively for seniors and their families |
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