When it comes to transferring wealth to younger generations, not all beneficiaries are responsible enough or prepared to handle a large inheritance. This is where incentive trust provisions come in. They can be used to discourage bad behavior and motivate beneficiaries to make responsible life choices, so that they are ultimately better prepared to handle their inheritance.

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), same-sex marriages now enjoy the same legal rights as heterosexual marriages in the United States. However, as same-sex couples still face unique estate planning issues, attorneys should be wary of assuming they can plan for them in the same way as their heterosexual counterparts.

Deciding between joint and separate trusts for married couples has been a conundrum within the estate planning community for a long time. While many attorneys swear by one trust over the other, there are many factors—such as, the state in which the couple resides, the total of their marital estate, and the couple’s relationship itself—that contribute to the decision of which trust is more suitable.

Historically, joint trusts have been popular among married couples due to their cheaper start-up costs, ease of management, and the fact that a joint trust reflects the traditional view of a marital estate as a singular unit. However, separate trusts, have some great (and often superior) benefits for a married couple in regards to asset protection, management flexibility, and cost savings after the death of the first spouse.

To aid in this decision process, we've compared the strength and weaknesses of each trust type for various situations. The check mark signifies which trust is the better option for that category.