Page 10 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, AugusT 21, 2026 ~ Everett Public Libraries Calendar of Events ~ August 24–29 Around Everett Books and Brews: Night Shift Brewing (87 Santilli Hwy), Wednesday, August 26, at 6 p.m. The Everett Public Libraries is partnering with Night Shift Brewing and Short Path Distillery to discuss good books over good brews with great company! This month we’ll be reading “A Fate Inked in Blood: Saga of the Unfated: Book One” by Danielle L. Jensen. Pick up a copy at the Parlin or Shute Memorial Library and we’ll see you at Night Shift Brewing to discuss the book. Parlin Adult and Teens Yarn Club: Parlin Fresco Room, Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Come chit-chat and stitch! Bring your crocheting, knitting or any other yarn craft and sit and socialize with other members of the crafting community. Recommended for ages 14-109! The Lost Gem: A D&D Program: Parlin Memorial Library, Tuesday, August 25, at 7 p.m. A fun, smart and creative celebration of Dungeons and Dragons, paired with live magic! Participate in a live fantasy game, making choices, playing characters and rolling dice. Recommended for ages seven to adults! Murder/Mystery Book Group: Connolly Center Meeting Room, Thursday, August 27, at 12 p.m. Discuss Jesse Sutanto’s “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.” See Kathleen for copies on her twice monthly visits or call the Parlin (617-394-2300) or Shute (617-394-2308) Library. Solar Energy for YOU! Parlin Meeting Room, August 27 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Would you like to lower your energy bills without solar panels on your roof? Learn to read your energy bill so you can spot unfair charges? Did you know that energy is available to both renters and owners? These and other questions will be answered with printed information you can take home. Parlin Children’s Lego Club: Parlin Children’s Room, Monday, August 24, from 3-5 p.m. Come to the Children’s Room on Mondays for some free Lego building fun. Open to all ages; children under six years old must be accompanied by an adult. No registration required. Drama Class: Parlin Children’s Room, Wednesday, August 26, at 3 p.m. Do you have a drama queen or king at home? Drama Class in the Parlin Children’s Department is the perfect opportunity for your child to put those acting skills to use with our drama coach! Suggested ages: six to 14. Friday Family Movies: Parlin Meeting Room, Friday, August 28, at 3 p.m. Break out the popcorn! Come and watch “Freakier Friday” (rated PG) with your friends and family. Shute Adult and Teens Ready Player One Games: Shute Meeting Room, Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m. Level up your Wednesdays with our ultimate gaming hangout! Grab your friends and dive into fun Nintendo Switch and PlayStation games. Recommended for ages 11 and up. Fused Glass: Pendants and Magnets: Shute Meeting Room, Thursday, August 27, at 6:00 p.m. Join us at the Shute with Vindauga Glass instructor Deenie, who will be facilitating a glass-assembling workshop. Participants will use precut glass to create their own unique piece. Each piece will be fired in a glass studio and mailed back to the Shute Memorial Library for participants to pick up at a later date. Registration is required; for ages 18 and up! Shute Children’s Storytime at the Shute: Shute Children’s Room, Mondays at 10 a.m. and Tuesdays at 12 p.m. What’s better than a good story? Sharing it with friends! Join Miss Val at the Shute Library for Fairytale Fun! Story to Screen: Family Movies: Shute Meeting Room, Thursday at 12 p.m.; it’s time for films and fun! Munch on popcorn and watch movies that were once stories on the page. Can you answer the question “What was better, the book or the movie?” Join us this week for the 1988 live-action film “The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking,” which is based on the classic books by Astrid Lindgren. Master Builders: Lego Freeplay: Shute Children’s Room, Thursdays from 3-5 p.m.; freeplay session with Legos and other building blocks. Bring a buddy, or make a new one, as you explore your imagination brick by brick! We provide the space and the materials to let your vision take shape. What will you create? Spintronics — Stem Free-Play: Join us at the Shute Memorial Library every Friday from 2:30-4:30 p.m. for a STEM-based free-play session. Try “Spintronics” and use mechanical circuits to solve puzzles, or try “Bridge or Bust” and see if you can build a bridge large enough to span the distance and sturdy enough to hold the weight. Both games will test (and expand) your ability to solve problems creatively. Will you rise to the challenge? For ages eight and up; registration is not required. Asset Protection Planning With Trusts O ne of the concerns that parents might have is devising assets to their children only to later find out that those hard-earned assets are later lost in a divorce proceeding. One way to deal with this possibility is to leave these assets to your children pursuant to the terms of your trust. A properly drafted trust is a child because the court may require the trustee to make a distribution from the trust in order to satisfy what the court believes to be a “support” obligation of the child, whether it be in the form of alimony or child support. Consequently, a pure “dismore about providing children flexibility and protection with the hope of not creating unmanageable limitations. Most people look to establish a trust that ends at some particular point in time, typically when a parent feels the child will be mature enough to handle money. In many cases, one third of the trust estate is distributed at age 25, another third at age 30 and a final third at age 35. Others prefer one half at age 30 and the remaining trust assets at age 35. Distributing assets to children at too young of an age often results in the children making bad financial decisions or being taken advantage of by a scam artist, which is happening all of the time, especially to the most vulnerable people, such as financially inexperienced young people and the elderly. Typically, upon the death of both parents, a child who is old enough and mature enough will be named a successor trustee to carry out the terms of the trust. If the child has not reached a certain age and a certain level of maturity, the parents will often appoint a third-party trustee to administer the terms of the trust and to make distributions on behalf of the child such as for health expenses, educational expenses, housing expenses, etc. Parents are often concerned that if assets are distributed directly to children upon death, any one of the children could subsequently get divorced only to see those inherited assets become part of a divorce proceeding. Leaving assets to children via a trust does have the benefit of “spendthrift” provisions designed to provide better protection to the children in the event of an ongoing divorce proceeding or prior to such a proceeding when things aren’t going so well in the marriage. Consequently, depending on the particular family and all of its dynamics, a family trust could be drafted to last longer, long after a child reaches the age of say 35. This is another reason why in some situations, naming a third-party trustee might be better than naming a child as trustee. If the child has discretion to make distributions to himself or herself upon the death of both parents, then a probate judge in a divorce proceeding might order the child to make such a distribution representing that child’s share of the parent’s estate, thereby bringing those assets into the divorce proceeding. Trusts can often be classified based upon their distribution provisions as being either support trusts or discretionary trusts. Each state varies in its interpretation of the trust terms. Discretionary trusts will tend to protect children in the event of a future divorce and the potential alimony and child support issues inherent in such a proceeding. A support trust may very well cause a problem for cretionary” trust would seem to offer the most protection in these situations with a third-party trustee serving as opposed to a child (particularly the child that would most likely be the one to be involved in such a proceeding based upon facts and circumstances known to the parents at the time of the trust creation). A traditional “support” trust might not always be the way to go, as including language in such a trust that states that the child’s “standard of living” is to be maintained, might somehow lead a court to interpret that language as equating to an obligation on the part of a trustee to make a distribution to a child in order to satisfy an alimony or child support obligation. This is in contrast to simply providing income or principal to the child in order that the child have sufficient assets in order to be able to pay for his or her own food, shelter, medical expenses, etc. In our litigious society, we all have to be very concerned with lawsuits originating from any source and the more protection contained in a trust the better, even at the expense of limiting children’s access to the trust assets for which the parents funded into trust for their benefit. In any event, it is important to make informed decisions. What’s right for one family is not necessarily right for another family. Different circumstances, beliefs and priorities will result in different choices for each family. In the end, there are never any guarantees. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation.
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