Estate Planning Tools for Your Baby’s College

November 21, 2017 Posted In Estate Planning,Estate Taxes,Guardianships & Conservatorships,Powers of Attorney,Trusts
by Colorado Estate Matters

Remember when your baby was just an infant and you thought he/or she would break like dropped china or porcelain? And then you saw them run right into a glass door and bounce off like a rubber ball and bounce back for more. It was probably back then that you first gave some forethought into getting yourself an insurance policy for their benefit or even an estate plan, in case something accidentally happened to you. But, like many well-laid plans, creating an estate plan or even a trust for the kids was put on the back burner.

When is the right time to set a plan in place to take care of your children, so they are taken care of in the event something unexpectedly happens to you? Probably, right now so that you don’t put it off again. when later could be too late.

Creating an Estate Plan with Trusts in Colorado for Your Kids

Estate Planning Tools for Funding Your Baby’s College can be discussed with a Denver Estate Planning Attorney at Colorado Estate Matters, Ltd.

Nearly everyone needs an estate plan to pass on their legacy, fortune and property to future generations. Here are some things an estate plan will guarantee for your kids:

• You can state a preferred guardian for your children.
• You can also name temporary guardians, which will enable you to time-share your children if one guardian is a busy person. That way there is a reliable backup to your primary appointed guardian.
• You can establish a healthcare power of attorney if for some strange reason both your children and you were in some kind of debilitating accident and you were incapacitated.
• You can include HIPAA directives that authorize certain family and friends to call hospitals and doctors to find out if your child has been hospitalized; and, if so, how they are doing.
• You can also leave detailed instructions on how children should be raised, including certain values, parenting methodology, religious upbringing wishes, etc.

Creating Trusts for Your Children’s College

Trusts are designed to help avoid estate taxes and help manage your money disbursements to your benefactors. Setting up a trust for your child’s college is a great way to take care of your kids and it is a way to be fiscally responsible. The following are some factors to keep in mind for creating a college trust:

• Trusts require larger amounts of money to establish and may be expensive to manage.
• Trusts require separate tax returns.
• Trusts will almost certainly disqualify your child from applying for financial aid.
• Section 2503(c) trusts are common tools used for financing college for kids. They allow a designated trustee to manage the funds until the child reaches 21 years of age, which is when they can tap into the remaining principal.
• Crummey trusts allow parents to set up life-long gifts to their children, which are free from estate taxes or gifts as long as the amounts are less than $14,000 (under the IRS guidelines established for 2017).
• Crummey trusts allow beneficiaries to tap into the funds during an established distribution time frame, and don’t put a mandatory age restriction on when the principal can be used. A Crummey trust can also be used for multiple beneficiaries, in the event you have more than one child going through college.
• If you can’t afford to start a trust, then you might consider a custodial account, which allows you to set up set up college saving accounts for the same reason as a trust.

Contact a Denver Estate Planning Attorney at Colorado Estate Matters, Ltd.

Are you ready to discuss options for your child’s college saving plan? If so, contact our Denver Estate Planning Attorney at Colorado Estate Matters, Ltd. Our professionals will go over all financial options for funding your child’s future and college tuition. Our Denver estate planning attorney will provide competent, caring, and professional service while providing them with the highest quality of estate planning services at affordable rates.

Contact Us

We can discuss your estate planning needs for your baby’s college and different options during our consultation. To schedule this meeting, call us at (303) 713-9147 or email us using the contact form at the top of this page.

From our offices in Denver, we serve clients throughout the southwest and southeast Metro Area, including (but not limited to) people in Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Castle Rock, Parker, Aurora, Greenwood Village, Englewood, Centennial, Wheat Ridge, Golden and Arvada.