Protecting children's inheritance from volatile marriages.

Marriage conjures beautiful images of couples who love and support each other in a lifetime commitment. Unfortunately, life's challenges for a myriad of reasons can throw couples a 'curveball' that can sometimes derail them on their journey to the happily ever after.

Parents can and do play a role in safeguarding the marriages of their children and protecting their grandchildren. In divorce proceedings, greed or raw emotions can cloud judgment, particularly when addressing the division of matrimonial property. Wealthy parents passing on their inheritance to their children will naturally not wish to contribute to the squabbles of their children and their spouses. But when they do pass on their inheritance, without proper planning or understanding, they inevitably expose their children to acrimonious courtroom battles if their marriages do not work out well.

Utilising the trust framework, parents can actively manage and reduce the negative impact of divorce when their children's inheritance is shielded against matrimonial claims. Unlike prenuptial agreements, common in Western countries, asians, by and large, find planning for a possible future divorce as a condition of marriage unacceptable. Trust planning, on the other hand, by parents, is primarily a matter between the parents and their children, which can be kept private and confidential from their future sons-in-law or daughters-in-law.

An example of how trust planning can be utilised in inheritance planning is to target the settlor's children's marriage or future marriage. A family protection trust can expressly stipulate that a substantial part of the inheritance be released to their children only after a specified number of years of marriage. Such a condition takes into consideration that volatile marriages often end up in divorce within the early years of marriage. Other terms to facilitate a good and long-lasting marriage can be included in the inheritance planning.

Click on me to set up a free, complimentary consultation with our experts at Generations-ASIA to protect your children's inheritance and, where possible, also their marriages.

URL link: Malaysian tycoon ordered to pay ex-wife RM10.5mil in divorce settlement