Travel Trusts Are Gaining Popularity

Despite the economy, this is the first generation of people who have substantial wealth to pass on.  One way to pass on this wealth is through a travel-related trust.  A trust is often better than an outright gift of money because outright gifts are subject to the recipients’ creditors.  

As with a standard trust, the trust creator can place conditions on the money in a travel trust. The creator can specify a location that the beneficiary must visit with the money, or a purpose to spur the travel.  One attorney with Meltzer Lippe Goldstein & Breistone has set up 10 travel trusts in the past 15 years.  They are prevalent enough that a law firm and a travel agency have joined together to create one central place for clients to plan their travel and set up a travel trust. 

See Karen Schwartz, Inheritance Travel: Trusts Can Fund Trips for Heirs, LubbockOnline, Aug. 17, 2012.