Bloodline / Lineal Descendant Protection
What is it?
Bloodline protection provisions restrict trust benefits to your direct blood relatives (lineal descendants), ensuring your family wealth stays within your genetic family line. These provisions protect against assets leaving the family through beneficiaries' divorces, remarriages, or poor decisions. The trust can still provide for spouses during marriage without giving them enforceable rights to the principal.
Why is it important?
Without bloodline protection, your assets could end up with your child's ex-spouse after a divorce, a beneficiary's new spouse after remarriage, or strangers if a childless beneficiary passes away. Bloodline provisions ensure your wealth benefits your descendants—not "outlaws." This is especially important for significant family wealth, family businesses, or family real estate you want to keep in the family for generations.
Example Language
Upon termination of any beneficiary's interest, the remaining trust property shall pass only to the Grantor's then-living lineal descendants, per stirpes. No spouse, divorced spouse, or non-lineal relative of any beneficiary shall have any right or interest in the Trust Estate except as provided in the discretionary provisions herein.