Parent's Will - Changing to put inheritance in trust until date beyond plan

[TPPRAP]

We recently filed ch 13. My wife will inherit money once her mom passes (that could be many years from now). If she passes during the 5 years of our plan the money will all go to the trustee. If she changes the will to put inheritance in a trust that cant be touched until a future date would the BK trustee be able to remove the money from inheritance trust?
Another possibility would be to have a trust for our children established. Would that money be exempt from the ch13 plan?

[debee]

The only sure thing that I know of is a spendthrift trust. If your MIL sets one up with a careful attorney - crossing all the t's and dotting the i's - then should MIL perish before the 5 years is up, your wife's inheritance (principal only) would be safe. Any disbursements during the 5 years would be property of the estate. So long as the trust is set up according to the laws in your state and is a true spendthrift trust, it will work. I don't know about setting a time-frame. A spendthrift that she could revoke after the five years might present the least risk. I would be talking to an estate planning attorney with exposure to bankruptcy issues.

I've also read about a case (in another state) where the debtor's Mom added a codicil to her will stating that if she should die before a certain date, her son would be completely disinherited and everything would go to her daughter. He was a chapter 7 debtor and had the 180 day window. The Mom did in fact die during the 180 day window, left everything to her daughter and nothing to the debtor. The trustee took the matter before the judge. The court ruled that Mom could leave her stuff to whoever she wanted. Presumably (although it was never explicitly mentioned) the daughter will be free to gift half the inheritance to the debtor son at any time.

[catleg]

Your mom could also gift you the money before she dies...then it would be a gift not an inheritance.
I don't think the trustee has any claim over gifts just income.