Ask Francine

My husband and I want to leave all our assets to our kids, but we have grave concerns about the wife of one of them, and we don't want her to get her hands on any of the money. She and our son live in a community-property state, so we're afraid that anything he gets will become marital property. Is it possible to leave money in a trust exclusively to him? --Name Withheld, Western U.S.

The answer to your legal question is easy, but the family issues around it are thornier. According to attorneys in several community-property states, if you leave...

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