Your family, like all families, must deal with the challenges of life. These are the challenges that come, usually unexpectedly, for ourselves and our loved ones.
I met with a man struggling to take care of his wife. She had profound dementia, and he was exhausted taking care of her. He worried that she would get up in the night and wander away. During the daytime, she needed assistance with the most basic needs. He could no longer care for her alone.
He was most worried that his health was beginning to fail. He was terrified that he would pass before her. If that happened, how could he ensure that their assets would be used for her benefit? She would not be able to make decisions for herself. Someone else would have control of their assets, and he would not be around to make sure those assets were used properly.
In fact, he did end up passing before her.
However, we were able to do some “disability planning” to help address his concerns. We did this by placing their assets in a trust designed specifically to address this issue.
Placing assets in a trust is like placing them in a wagon. You maintain control over the assets because you maintain control over the wagon. You are the one who “pulls” the wagon.
In this case, we drafted the trust to provide that – on his passing (or incapacity) – a specific, trusted individual (called a successor trustee) would continue “pulling” the wagon. The assets in the wagon continued to belong to this man and his wife, even though he had passed and she was incapacitated. The instructions in the trust made clear that the successor trustee had the legal obligation to use those assets only in a way that would benefit this man’s wife. A Will cannot effectively accomplish this result.
*Steve Wright is an Idaho licensed attorney. This column is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice, which requires a specific discussion of specific circumstances.
© 2025 Steven J Wright