It's a super common question when preparing an estate plan for a client who already has a family trust: "Can I just use my existing family trust? Why do I need a new testamentary trust"?

It might sound like the simplest option, but is gifting an inheritance to an existing family trust really the smarted move?

In this episode, we unpack the pros and cons of gifting to an existing family trust versus setting up a testamentary trust in the will. While both options might look similar at first glance, the differences can have big tax and asset protection implications.

And we've included a free comparison of the major differences between a family trust and a testamentary trust here.

If your clients have mentioned “just putting it in the family trust,” this episode will help you walk them through the real implications and drafting considerations.