How does inherited wealth affect your heirs? Does leaving an inheritance to adult children help them in life or does it remove incentive and a desire to be productive? Anderson Cooper, the CNN newsman, and host of the news show AC360, http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/, was in the news himself lately. Yahoo reported that Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt, told Howard Stern, http://www.howardstern.com/, that he would not be inheriting from his mom’s wealth. More, so, Cooper is fine with that. Which makes one wonder… Is inheriting money from your parents actually bad? Have you thought about the effect that leaving money to your Florida beneficiaries will have on them? How does inherited wealth affect your kids’ and heirs’ values and morals? Cooper thinks that inherited wealth can actually remove motivation to work.
Anderson Cooper Won’t Inherit from Gloria Vanderbilt Fortune
- Anderson Cooper is a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt and the son of Gloria Vanderbilt.
- His mom not only inherited family wealth, but she made a bunch of money on her own……and Cooper doesn’t get any?
- According to Yahoo Finance http://finance.yahoo.com/, there is no trust for Cooper and he does not expect to inherit from his mom.
- Cooper apparently described inheriting money as “curse” suggesting that it causes heirs to lose incentive and perhaps motitivation to work or succeed on one’s own.
- Here’s the link to the Yahoo Finance article if you would like to read it: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/anderson-cooper-wont-inherit-dime-145800998.html
Palm Beach Estates & Probates
- It’s funny, perhaps a bit odd, but in all the Palm Beach probates that we’ve been involved in, and all the Palm Beach will contests and and will challenges that are out there, we probably don’t talk enough about the morals or values which parents leave to their kids.
- That may be because we litigate the money that parents leave to their kids
- And, many times, we litigate the wealth which parents DON’T leave to their kids.
- We DO talk a lot about the dollars that Palm Beachers leave to their kids and heirs in their Florida revocable trusts.
- We DO discuss Palm Beach estates and $$ inheritances for Florida estate beneficiaries.
- We are hired, not to plan a Florida estate, but typically after one passes away and the Florida money is being administered or inherited or distributed
Your Florida Estate Plan: Does It Include Your Values?
- Perhaps since our firm is a Palm Beach probate litigation and estate administration firm, we simply don’t have the opportunity to discuss the effect one’s inheritances have on kids
- After all, how you leave your wealth is typically handled by the Palm Beach estate lawyer who is preparing or writing your Florida wills & trusts
- Some very good Palm Beach estate planning attorneys from Palm Beach Gardens to Boca Raton do discuss the effect of wealth on client’s heirs.
Florida Incentive Trusts: distribute inheritance if you work hard or succeed
- Some Palm Beach trust lawyers have suggested creating an “incentive trust”
- A Florida Incentive Trust may be thought of as when a Florida trustee only distributes money upon certain events or accomplishments in your childrens’ lives
- Graduate college ? You get $$$
- Get a grad degree ? You get $$$
- Get married
- Buy a first house
- Have children
- Work for a non profit, in education, or do social work
- Start a business
- Run for office
These might all be “triggering events” for a Florida trustee to distribute trust money to a trust beneficiary……but be mindful….
Florida Trusts Can Also Keep the Inherited $$$ Out of Your Hands
- Depending on how you draft your Florida incentive trust, you may also have your trustee NOT give money to your family under certain circumstances
- Your child is 30 and won’t work? No money
- Your child won’t get an education ? No trust funds
- Your child wants to invest in multiple “business deals” with drinking buddies and friends with no business plan ? Your trustee may not want to speculate
Values & Estate Value: Leave More to Your Kids than Just $$
Consider how your money , whether from a Palm Beach estate or a Florida trust, might affect your kids when they inherit money. Is there a way to pass along your work ethic, your values and morals?
Here’s the link to the Howard Stern interview: http://www.howardstern.com/howard-on-air/howard-100-101/2014-03-31?mode=full