Vanilla Document Builder Packages

There are no restrictions on leaving specific gifts of cash to either an individual(s) or charity. 

You have the option to leave your remaining assets to individual(s) or charities in several different ways: equally or unequally, outright, in separate trusts, or in a pot trust.  

You can customize separate trusts for descendants and certain beneficiaries based on the age for full access, 3-tiered distributions, serving as co-trustee, and removing the trustee. If you want to customize the terms of each separate trust beyond these terms or want a pot trust to include people other than your descendants, you will need to work with an attorney.

Our subtrusts for beneficiaries allow you to set a distribution schedule across ten years or to allow distribution all at once at a specific age. In the ten year distribution, beneficiaries receive one-third of the trust assets at the starting age,  half of remaining assets after 5 years, and then receive the remaining assets after 10 years. For example: your children could receive their first distribution at 25, then the next at 30, then the final at 35.

Whether you are creating a trust-based plan or seek to create a testamentary trust in our will-based plan, both packages allow you to dictate if and when the beneficiary can act as co-trustee. You can also decide if and when the beneficiary has the power to remove other trustees.

You (and your spouse, if you’re creating a joint trust) will be the primary trustee of the revocable trust you create with Vanilla Document Builder. This means you are in charge of managing the trust assets during your lifetime.  For administration after your death, you’ll name up to three successor trustees, who will serve consecutively and who are responsible to act in the best interest of the trust’s beneficiaries.

Your revocable trust or will-based package includes a document called a “Tangible Personal Property Memorandum”, where you can list physical property, excluding real property and cash, and identify who you’d like to receive the property after your death. This memorandum may not be binding, depending on state law, but your trust or will directs your fiduciary to follow it after your death.

Vanilla Document Builder was designed as a self-service offering using questions and templates created by leading trust and estate planning attorneys. Vanilla Document Builder has embedded help text, explanations, and Knowledge Base articles to help you navigate the product and make determinations about your estate plan. 

If you’d like to engage an attorney to answer your questions, Vanilla’s partnership with the Will and Trust Center offers access to experienced estate planning attorneys who can help clients with basic or advanced planning in all 50 states. 

There is an option to name a corporate trustee as a successor trustee. The documents include provisions for compensation to a corporate trustee and the ability to amend the documents to add administrative provisions as needed. 

At the present time, Vanilla Document Builder does not integrate with specific trust companies or corporate fiduciaries to auto-populate any required provisions or allow you to have a trust company serve as trustee immediately.  You and your advisor should work together to determine if the trust company you choose has required provisions in order to serve.

The Will Package allows all your probate assets to pass according to the terms of your will through probate administration. The main benefit of a will-based plan is you do not have to fund a trust during your lifetime; however, your estate will undergo probate administration. 

The Basic Trust Package utilizes a revocable trust and pour-over will. In a trust-based plan, the distribution provisions are contained in your revocable trust. These provisions state who gets what and how your assets are distributed to your loved ones or to a charity. When you have a will-based plan, those distribution provisions are in the will. It is still necessary to have a will when you have a trust to capture any assets titled in your individual name at your death. Those are probate assets that must be administered by the probate court. The pour-over will transfers (or “pours”) assets not already owned by the revocable trust into the revocable trust through probate administration. For the  states that require different provisions, state specific language or details are included where necessary.

The Basic Trust Package includes a disclaimer trust which is considered a “wait and see” approach to estate tax planning. It allows the surviving spouse to disclaim assets and intends for them to be funded in a Disclaimer Trust that would not be subject to estate tax upon the death of the surviving spouse. This type of planning usually requires attorney advice and counsel upon the death of the first spouse to properly disclaim the assets for tax benefits. 

The Advanced Planning package includes a mandatory funding formula and use of a credit shelter trust to fully utilize exemption amounts to reduce estate taxes upon the second-to-die of married users.  This provides for an automatic funding, which can prevent errors in administration that lead to tax implications. This type of trust is best for users that expect to need estate tax planning at their death. 

Vanilla Document Builder offers an Advanced Planning Package that is most common for users who may incur estate taxes. The Advanced Planning package includes a mandatory funding formula and use of a credit shelter trust to fully utilize exemption amounts to reduce estate taxes upon the second-to-die of married users. The Advanced Package also includes Trust Protector provisions and advanced optionality for power of appointment provisions to allow users to have maximum flexibility in creation of their estate plan. 

The estate planning packages do not support disinheriting a spouse (choosing to leave nothing to your spouse at your death). In order to accomplish this legally, state-specific provisions must be included in the dispositive document. This cannot be done in Vanilla Document Builder, but can be done by engaging an attorney through the Vanilla Attorney Network. 

Vanilla Document Builder does not support disinheriting a child (choosing to leave nothing to one or more of your biological or adopted children). Each state has legal requirements that may vary state by state to accomplish disinheriting a child. Vanilla Document Builder does not currently support this in the will-based or trust-based packages. If married, upon your and your spouse’s death, the remaining assets can be distributed all to your children equally or in varying percentages. You also have the choice of distributing your assets among your children and other non-descendant beneficiaries or charities.  However, if you choose to not distribute any assets to one or more children, the document may not have the requisite language to accomplish this. It is best to retain an attorney through the Vanilla Attorney Network to complete your estate plan if you wish to disinherit a child.

Vanilla Document Builder now supports joint trusts in certain separate property states. Separate property states are all states except the nine community property states. Joint trusts are trusts where husband and wife serve as settlors or creators of the trust and both have the ability to amend or revoke the trust together. Separate trusts in separate property states can be easier to administer at the death of one spouse due to the assets already being separated into two different trusts. However, there may be reasons you would prefer a joint trust even if you live in a separate property state. If you wish to have a joint trust and live in a state that is not a community property state, it is important to consult with an attorney. You can engage an attorney through the Vanilla Attorney Network.

Vanilla Document Builder does not have the capability to address issues surrounding non-US citizens or foreign assets. If you or your spouse are not a US citizen or own assets outside of the United States, it is important to consult an attorney, like through the Vanilla Attorney Network, to determine any implications and necessary provisions to include in your plan.

Vanilla Document Builder does not support appointing co-fiduciaries at this time. When appointing co-trustees in a trust or co-personal representatives in a will, it is important to understand that both fiduciaries must agree to make decisions in administration of your estate and distribution of trust assets to beneficiaries. 

Vanilla Document Builder allows you to create separate trusts for your children or other beneficiaries to be funded at your death. These separate trusts will have a single beneficiary and assets will be distributed for the beneficiary’s health, education, maintenance and support needs at the discretion of the Trustee. If you choose to create a lifetime trust for your beneficiary, Vanilla allows you to appoint the primary beneficiary of their separate trust as the Trustee at a certain age. This can be helpful to allow flexibility for the beneficiary.

Vanilla Document Builder’s trust-based plans include conduit provisions to accommodate this. Conduit provisions allow the trust to act as a “pass-through” entity. This means instead of accumulating retirement account distributions in the trust, the trustee distributes them directly to the trust’s beneficiaries, ensuring that the distributions are not taxed at the typically higher tax bracket of the trust.