Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers a reader question about whether money must be held in a trust for a minor in the state of Wisconsin.
Transcript of Video: When a Minor Is Receiving Money from an Estate What Law Says It Has to Be Put in Trust?
Today's question comes from Kenosha
Wisconsin and the writer asked the
following when a minor is receiving
money from an estate what law says it
has to be put in a trust my children are
heirs to my aunt's estate and each will
receive $8,000 each okay so in general
in Wisconsin a minor which is defined as
anyone under age 18 cannot legally
inherit property so the inherited
property must either be held in a trust
or placed in an UTMA account UTMA
stands for a uniform transfer to minors
act until that person reaches the age of
18 which is the age of majority in
Wisconsin under Wisconsin law it's
possible that you could hold assets in
an UTMA account until age 21 that's the
latest if the person who set up the will
that way or Trust says they want it held
until 21 you can hold it until 21 in an UTMA account if you want to
hold property for
someone longer than age 21 then you need
to set up your own trust to do this and
if you use a trust you can choose
whatever ages you wish so you just
mentioned an estate here and not whether
it's a will or trust I'm guessing it's a
will because you use the term estate and
that that's going into trust for the
minors but perhaps she set this all up
through her own trust either way you're going to
have to follow the terms of what your
aunt put in her will or trust and that
will dictate what age your children
receive the money if the document is
silent then the general age would be 18
if you have questions about this I
suggest you consult with an estate
planning attorney in your area who can
examine the document further and give
you a more complete answer so great
question and thank you for asking!
© 2019 Law Office of Thomas B. Burton. All Rights Reserved.
Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office.