Adaptation note: This story is adapted from similar matters handled by Lingtu Law and its peers. Names, places, dates and amounts have been changed, and the outcomes are presented as scenarios only. They do not reflect that similar cases will reach the same result.

Mr. and Mrs. K live in Orange County, with about $2 million in their house and retirement savings. Their older son is a dentist. Their younger son, in his thirties, started gambling a few years ago, ran up credit card and personal debts, and kept relapsing after quitting. What worried the couple most was that once they were gone, their younger son could lose his share within months, or his creditors could take it outright.

They set up a trust with us in 2021. Instead of splitting everything equally and outright, we arranged it this way: the older son receives his share directly; the younger son's share stays in the trust, managed jointly by his brother and a professional trust company, which pay his rent and insurance directly each month and give him a fixed living allowance, so large sums of cash never pass through his hands. The trust includes a spendthrift clause: until money is actually paid to him, he cannot pledge or assign it, and his creditors cannot claim it directly. Another clause lets the trustees give him extra funds for school or a small business if he stays away from gambling for two straight years and keeps attending a support group.

Mrs. K passed away at the end of 2025, and Mr. K in February 2026. In March a lending company arrived with the younger son's promissory note, seeking to collect from the "estate." The trustees replied in writing that the money was still in the trust and did not belong to him, so the lender could pursue only him personally. After reviewing the terms, the lender's attorney wrote in April that they would not pursue the funds.

Date	Milestone
August 2021	Mr. and Mrs. K signed their trust; the younger son's share to be held by trustees and paid monthly
December 2025	Mrs. K passed away
February 2026	Mr. K passed away; the older son and the professional trust company took over as trustees
March 2026	Lender came with a promissory note; trustees replied in writing
April 2026	Lender wrote that it would not pursue the funds; monthly payments began
September 2026	First annual review confirmed the younger son had not gambled in over a year; monthly payments continue

Not a dollar of the younger son's share was taken. Since April his rent and living allowance have been paid on time each month. At the first annual review in September, the trustees confirmed he had not been to a casino in more than a year. The family never ended up in court over it.