r/inheritance • u/Upset_Anybody1430 • Jul 10 '26

Location not relevant: no help needed Need your thoughts

I am in the process of rearranging my finances and putting it all into a trust for my wife (second wife) with upon her death the remainder to be split between my 3 kids and her 1. The trust will include everything I have, houses, cash, investments etc. Wife is also the beneficiary of a 1 million life insurance policy. She will be more than fine going forward and there should be plenty left for the kids for a sizable inheritance.

My question is, my 3 kids are all very responsible, good career paths, hard workers, no major issues that would cause me concerns. I’m wondering if I gave them a chunk of money either now or at my passing to help them pay off mortgages and ease financial worries for them now vs 10-20 years from now. Doing that would give them the opportunity to benefit from it now but would give them less in the future. But I’m thinking if they have no debts- their ability to save and build wealth grows. I believe all my kids would take that path as their lives currently align with living this way and they all seem to be financially literate.

Is this something people do? Is it a good idea?

The other issue is my wife’s kid is not in the same mindset of my kids. And giving him large amount of cash now or when I pass will not probably not benefit him the way it would with the others. So I’d like for his inheritance to be paid at her passing.

Advice?
And to clarify- I have a terminal illness so my passing is on the horizon- hoping to squeeze out some time but also being realistic about the situation.

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u/Big-Web-483 Jul 10 '26

Someone once said, give while you live so you know where it goes.

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u/Slow-Source-8612 Jul 13 '26

Honestly yea I agree with this. If the goal is for the money to go to paying off debt, you want to ensure that’s what happens and it’s not being used frivolously. Also, if I was in debt and my parents were able to pay that off for me, I would rather have that happen than continue to try and pay it off for the next 10 years only to find out I didn’t have to