At Cox & Nici we review a great many estate plans for our clients, and what we sometimes see can be downright disturbing.

Undoubtedly, you're intent on living the life of leisure that you worked so hard for so many years to attain. We're sure you've provided for your own future and probably provided for your children and grandchildren to live a better life after you're gone.

But have you taken steps to protect those assets from creditors, predators or, in some cases, from your children themselves?

You probably have an estate plan that holds your assets in a Revocable Trust while you are living, to be divided among your children equally after you (and your spose) are gone, most likely after the kids turn 30 which, in most cases, they already have.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of ways that this inheritance can be lost by those for whom it is intended to help!

That's right. One of your children could be involved in an auto accident and be sued, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe one of your children is a doctor, and loses a medical malpractice case. The patient could end up getting every dime. Or your child becomes embroiled in an ugly divorce, and the ex-spouse gets half of the money you worked so hard to make and protect.

These scenarios are not pleasant to consider, but they occur every day. And every day, the money earned by people like yourself, after a lifetime of hard work, goes not to the intended beneficiaries, but to others not even members of the family.

In other cases, a child may develop a substance abuse problem, a gambling problem or a mental illness, and squander the inheritance. Such a child needs to be protected from him or herself.

That's why it is so important to set up an "asset protection" or "spendthrift'' trust, a trust that protects these hard-earned assets from going to anyone other than your intended benificiaries, that is, your children or grandchildren.

Money in an "asset protection" trust can be controlled by the adult child named as the beneficiary, and by law still be protected from creditors.

Say you have a cookie jar full of cookies. In a traditional estate plan, on your death, the cookies are divided equally among your children. They can do with them what they want. They can also lose them in a lawsuit, a divorce, a bankruptcy or a bad business deal.

In an asset protection trust, the cookies are kept in a cookie jar after your death, but the jar is protected by lock and key. The responsible child -- the sole trustee in this example -- has the key and may dole out cookies as he or she sees fit (to the child or the child's children). But the cookies can't be taken away. The money will stay in the family, going to help your children or grandchildren live a good life.

In a spendthrift trust, with co-trustees, the jar is locked with two keys. One is held by the child who you may feel is not as responsible with money as he or she should be. The other is held by a trusted attorney, accountant, bank trust company or other trusted advisor. The money is usually designated to be used for such purposes as health, education, maintenance and support.

The techniques are simple, yet offer the protection you want. And such trusts may be set up easily and inexpensively. In many cases, it involves a simple amendment to the estate plan you already have. Such trusts may also be established for the assets you may want to gift to your children or grandchildren during your lifetime.