Firm News

A trust created by a family may go on for several generations. What makes sense now or how the trust is structured may not make sense for the next generation. There can be many events that require a trust to be modified after the original creators pass away. Changes in the law, change in circumstances, change in family structure, technology changes, etc., all of these events can make a trust less effective than originally contemplated.  This is especially true for a family with a special needs member.

A few months ago, I met with a family with the following set of circumstances; Sue, the mother, has cancer; Jim, the father, is employed; one son, Steve, is 17 with autism in addition to other special needs who does not receive public benefits; the other son, Bruce, is a college graduate and works in a neighboring town. Sue’s father recently died and left Steve $45,000 worth of bank stock. There are a variety of issues that must be addressed with this family.