Protecting Assets from Addicts

Do you have a family member who is struggling with addiction?

Maybe the addiction is a recent development. Or, your family has been dealing with it for years.

During the struggles, it’s important to remember to protect yourself. When someone suffers from addiction, they are no longer thinking for themselves. The drugs or alcohol often send an addict's behavior in the wrong direction.

Photo of some drugs

Protect Yourself and Your Assets

Protecting assets from family members who are addicted to drugs is not about punishing your loved ones. People suffering from addiction are so overcome with the need to prevent withdrawal that they do things that are not normal. She may try to take money from your bank account, or he may take valuables from your home or even a safe deposit box. Then, your assets are sold or traded for drugs.

To protect yourself, think about what the addicted person might do to take your money or your valuables. If she has access to your bank accounts, credit cards, or safe deposit boxes, you may need to change passwords and keys, and take other steps to increase your security.

Not only does securing your valuables protect you; it also cuts off resources the addicted person might try to use to purchase more drugs. However, realize that by cutting off a source of money, the addicted person might resort to other criminal activities in order to fund his habit. The only long-term solution is to get the addicted person into a treatment program.

Seek Advice from an Experienced Ohio Probate Attorney

My clients often ask me how they can prevent a family member from getting money in the form of an unrestricted inheritance. Specifically, people are concerned about leaving a significant sum of money to someone who cannot be trusted with it, or who will simply spend it on drugs.  Protecting assets is a complex situation that requires a case-by-case evaluation by a skilled Ohio estate planning and probate attorney.

If someone in your family suffers from addiction and you want to address it in your estate plan, some of your options include:

• Addressing the situation in your Last Will and Testament. Your Last Will and Testament might limit how much the addicted person will inherit, or require the addicted person to have stopped using drugs before they can inherit under your Will. Depending on your specific situation, you may be concerned that another parent or adult will improperly use funds designated for a child, instead using the money to buy drugs. An experienced Ohio estate planning attorney can write a Will to address many of these issues.
• Creating an irrevocable or "spend-thrift" trust. Your Ohio estate planning attorney can put assets in a trust, and place limitations on how those funds can be used. The limitations may include only using trust funds to purchase a house, for rehabilitation programs, or almost any other limitation you choose to impose. Most trusts specify an age when the addicted person will be granted full access to the trust funds. The hope is that by the time the addicted person is granted full access to the money, they have worked through their addiction and can be trusted.
• Disinheriting the addicted person. Typically a choice of last resort, a family may decide to financially cut-off the addicted person. The Last Will and Testament can be written to specifically exclude the person suffering from addiction so that he does not receive anything under the Will, or receive significantly less than their siblings do.

Need Help with a Family Member Struggling with Addiction?

Addiction is a difficult disease that affects not only the person suffering from addiction, but her entire family.  If someone you love is suffering from addiction and you have questions about protecting assets, contact us at Wolfe Legal Services today. I work with people throughout greater Columbus, including Dublin, Bexley, Upper Arlington, Marysville, Hilliard, Delaware, and Newark, and throughout Franklin County, Delaware County, Union County, and Licking County. Call (614) 263-5297 any time or complete our online form.