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When it comes to protecting your assets for your loved ones

Nothing beats a family trust. You've working hard to accumulate your wealth, so why take a chance with the future of your estate? And a family trust isn't just for the wealthy anymore. For anyone who has a family, or a spouse and a home, a family home trust is a must. A will is one way to divide up your assets, but a will only gets older. A family trust, on the other hand, is as young and vibrant as its youngest beneficiary, and it never gets old because it's ruled by the friends and relatives you hand-picked for the job.

Who would you rather make decisions about your grandchildren's finances, an arbitrary trustee who knows little about you or your grandchildren, or that hand-picked inner circle of family members who will make sure your wishes are carried out to the letter?

As close as your smartphone

You may be surprised to learn that setting up a family home trust is neither expensive nor time consuming. In fact, you can get started in a few minutes online while you're waiting in line at the post office, or even when you're in your pyjamas during the middle of the morning over your weekend.

Once you've set up a family home trust, you can sit back and enjoy the rest of your life, without the worries of someone potentially suing you and making an enormous claim on your estate? You have nothing to fear because you no longer own your home; you are merely enjoying the property without claiming ownership. It's a delightfully simple way to keep prying hands off your belongings - not to mention protecting your family's future!

It's a family affair

If you really want to see your wealth distributed properly, the design of a family trust allows you to make sure that your assets end up in the hands of your heirs - not their greedy partners.

We're not insinuating that all partners are greedy, just the ones who will try and wrestle your hard-earned assets away from your children or grandchildren. If you leave your property to your loved ones in a simple will, there is a good chance that they will lose at least half of it in a messy divorce. After all, New Zealand has a 50-50 legal presumption of relationship property when a relationship ends.

Wealth earned and inherited during the course of the union counts as dividable relationship property; property and assets held in a family trust are not, and they cannot be lost in a divorce.

Generation after generation

The same holds true for your grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great, great-grandchildren. If the family trust is properly set up and managed, it will perpetuate more wealth through wise group investments and also protect that wealth - for generations to come. A family trust is a great way to make sure your loved ones get to enjoy your wealth - instead of losing it through unplanned events in life.

To find out more about setting up your own family home trust, why not register with TrustUs today.

Its in your hands.