One of the big benefits of pre-death estate planning is the ability to name your heirs, specify the share of your estate they will receive, and dictate the manner and timing at which they get their share. Generally speaking this part of estate planning may be done with either a will or a trust. But it takes a trust to avoid probate, protect the estate from judgments, liens and Medicaid, and to minimize estate taxes. Some of the heir planning issues to consider are as follows:

• What happens if an heir predeceases you.
  
  
• Whether the heirs are to receive equal or unequal shares. There are several factors that can cause the estate owners to vary the share sizes they leave to each heir.
  
  
• At what age should the heirs get their share, or should their share be paid in two or three installments at different age milestones.
  
  
• Whether or not to leave specific property to certain heirs, such as the family home to one child and certain other property to another child.
  
  
• Whether or not to omit or disinherit any heirs.
  
  
• How to deal with situations where a married couple each have different children from former marriages, but they want to setup one comprehensive estate plan. This may require dealing with issues such as one spouse having more children, or one spouse having made a larger contribution to the estate.
  
  
• Dealing with a marriage after you have built your own separate estate, which you may want your spouse to benefit from, but then you want the remainder of the estate to go to your heirs and not to your spouse's heirs.
  
  
• What to do in a case where a child has reckless spending habits and the parents fear that child will blow the inheritance quickly.
  
  
• How to deal with mentally or physically disabled heirs.
  
  
• Assuring that the heirs will use their share to pay for a college education, and do so in a prudent manner.
  
  
• How to deal with specific gifts to special heirs, such as grandchildren, nieces and nephews, charities, etc