Treadstone Law
Updated: June 2026
Leaving a large lump sum to someone who cannot handle it may do more harm than good— “Protecting an Inheritance from a Spendthrift Beneficiary in Ontario”
Most people want their estate to genuinely improve the lives of those they leave behind. But what if you know a particular beneficiary struggles with money — whether from impulsive spending, addiction, gambling, or simply never having learned to manage finances?
In Ontario, your will can include tools to pace an inheritance, maintain trustee oversight, and protect funds from being spent —or seized by creditors— before they provide lasting benefit.
When you leave a beneficiary an outright gift in your will, they receive the funds immediately upon the estate being administered. A discretionary trust (sometimes called a “protective trust” in this context) holds a beneficiary’s share of the estate and gives a trustee complete discretion over distributions. For a beneficiary whose issue is simply a lack of financial maturity rather than a serious problem, staggered distributions are a ‘lighter-touch’ option…
