Fo 
r individuals creating trust and estate plans with the intent for their children to inherit in their 40s and 50s, longer life expectancy can add complications. With parents more likely to live past 90-years-old, many adult children are not inheriting until their 70s. This extension on life can frustrate many trusts, with the trust terminating before the parents die as planned and the funds not going to the expected beneficiaries. The increase of second marriages combined with longer life expectancy further complicates estate planning because a younger spouse can further lengthen the time for when the children will receive inheritance. If this outcome frustrates the intent of one’s estate planning, one possible solution is to gift during life, but longer life expectancy also creates concerns that the donor parents may need more funds saved up for retirement than previously planned for.
See Amy Feldman, When Longevity Upends Trusts, Barrons, Nov. 29, 2014.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
