Frequently Asked Questions

Our official referral program is coming soon! For now, please tell your Childfree friends! You can share our website with anyone you think might be a fit for Childfree Trust, or invite them to an upcoming virtual event to learn more. If you’re a financial planner or RIA, click here for more information about referring your clients to Childfree Trust.

Yes! We’ve developed our browser-based app with the accessibility needs of aging populations in mind, including zoom capabilities and optimization for screen readers.

If you cancel your Childfree Trust membership, your protection will lapse and you’ll no longer be covered by our medical/financial POA, executor, and trustee representation services.

You will need to update your estate documents to remove us as your POA, executor and trustee.

If you have a trusted friend or family member, that is great! We can always be the backup. Additionally, many people do not want to put the burden of care on their friends and family.

Local attorneys are a good choice if they will fill all of the roles. It is exceedingly rare that a local attorney would be willing to act as your medical POA.

Local attorneys also don’t provide 24/7 emergency response and are a single point of failure.

Similar to local attorneys, corporate fiduciaries often only handle the financial component and come with high minimum AUM fees and rarely will serve in the Medical POA role.

You are Childfree if you have no biological, adopted or stepchildren. This includes the 21% of Americans who are Childfree and 4% who are Permanently Childless.

You are disqualified from joining if you:
– Have living biological or adopted children
– Need immediate trust or POA services
– Are on hospice or receiving palliative care
– Have been identified and documented as in cognitive decline
– Are unable to complete documents in the system and make quarterly updates
– Your legal and/or estate needs cannot be served by the documents we provide

You may also be ineligible if you have one of the following complex financial situations:
– Livestock or timberland
– International real estate

Contact us if you have questions about your eligibility.

Unfortunately, Childfree Trust is only available to Childfree people in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

Yes! Childfree people living in military domiciles are eligible to join if they meet all other membership criteria.

If you don’t qualify for any reason, continue creating an account in our system. We will connect you with our trust partner, who will determine whether they can serve you.

You will not receive the same pricing, terms, or coverage that Childfree Trust has negotiated on behalf of our members.

As a dual citizen, you may qualify for coverage of your U.S.-based assets as a Childfree Trust member. Please email support@childfreetrust.com to discuss your individual circumstances.

Yes! Green card holders living in the United States qualify for coverage of their U.S.-based assets.

The first thing we suggest is obtaining health insurance for travel to help ensure you’ve got the ability to get back to the US should something happen.

If we get notification through our emergency number, we will send your documentation to the medical facilities. From there, the Partner Trust Company will act in the agreed capacities as long as the country and medical facility you are in allows it. Please note, we cannot guarantee that the documentation will be accepted or understood by the receiving medical provider or country. Each country is different and some may or may not accept US documentation.

You should have your lawyer review our estate documents to determine if they fit with the terms of your pre-nup or post-nup.

No. Listed criteria such as needing immediate POA services, being on hospice, or having documented cognitive decline are to qualify you for initial intake only.

You will not be asked these questions again as a member and will not be disqualified for membership at renewal if something changes.

Anyone over the age of 18 should complete this paperwork. While death is less likely the younger you are, medical emergencies and accidents don’t discriminate based on age. Having completed paperwork helps ensure your wishes are carried out by people you know and trust in the event of an emergency.

The trust is a revocable trust allowing for flexibilty and changes throughout your life.

Upon death, the trust will turn into an irrevocable trust meaning changes no longer can be made.

Financial/legal tasks: This is the Trust Administrator. They must be approved by banking administrators and be a fiduciary.

Medical/care tasks: The Trust Administrators will work to establish your care via Aging Care Managers.

Aging Care Managers usually have a certification and are typically nurses, social workers, or people with degrees in gerontology.

Day-to-day tasks: The Trust Administrator acts as the quarterback.

They pay vetted professional services (like bill-paying services or pet sitters) to handle daily tasks, as this is cheaper than having the administrator do it themselves.

There are three terms you need to know:

Trust: A trust is created to manage your affairs. You complete a document that creates a trust, which is like a company, to manage your affairs.

Trusts are initially revocable, meaning you can change them at any time. Once you die they become irrevocable, meaning they can’t be changed.

Your trust names someone as trustee to manage the trust.

Trustee: When you write up your trust, you appoint someone as the trustee. While you are living, that’s you. When you are incapacitated or pass away, the next in line becomes the trustee.

Your trustee is a fiduciary and must keep your best interests at heart. When you appoint a trustee at a trust company, you are appointing a professional — usually a lawyer or financial professional — to act in that role.

Trust company: A trust company is effectively a bank that does not take deposits. Trust companies are regulated by the state or federal banking regulators.

They need to meet a high standard and ensure they will deliver exactly what they promise. For example, they have to keep a large cash reserve at all times, just in case they have issues. If a trust company “goes under,” the banking regulators have a responsibility to step in

Yes. Our partner trust company will act only when indicated that it’s their turn to step in.

You will specify in your documents that, if a court determines you must be appointed a conservator or guardian, you prefer Childfree Trust.

While courts are not legally required to follow this, they typically will if you have good documentation.

This is also where the process involving two medical professionals agreeing on cognitive decline is important.

Childfree Trust will only oversee this while the Partner Trust company is actively serving in these roles. We will not oversee any other person(s) serving in this role.

Yes, it is. We can be listed as your primary or backup in any of the roles. We will need to be listed at least as the last choice.

Yes, if you wish for assets to be handled by the trust, they must be retitled to the new trust’s name. The property or accounts would need to be formally titled to the trust for the partner trust company to assume long-term management.

If there’s a medical emergency and you can’t communicate your wishes, emergency personnel should call the number listed on your membership card. We’ll verify your identity and membership, then fax or email all the necessary medical documents and wishes over to your hospital to ensure your wishes are followed.

You’ll receive your membership card after signing up and we encourage you to keep it on hand at all times. We also encourage you to update your phone’s “In Case of Emergency” contact information in your phone (in your Health App if you have an iPhone!) with our emergency number.

You can voluntarily opt to have our trust partner act on your behalf. Most people want to maintain medical control as long as they can, but it is up to you.

For example, you might want us to step in when you go into long-term care. In that case, we offer a non-emergency number to call and make a plan.

In all other cases, please call your doctor or dial 911.

There are two paths: voluntary and involuntary.

Voluntary: You can “turn on” power of attorney any time and have our partner trust company act in that role.

For example, you could activate financial POA if you’re planning to travel internationally for a year and don’t want to worry about keeping your bills paid.

Involuntary: If you’re temporarily unconscious and can’t make decisions, the hospital notifies us and we step in until you’re awake and aware again.

If you’re in cognitive decline, two medical professionals — most likely your primary care doctor and a physician appointed by our partner trust company — must deem you unfit to place you into involuntary conservatorship or guardianship.

Power of attorney (POA) is intended to be used for a limited period of time (less than 6 months).

If you’re incapacitated longer than 6 months, your assets will be moved into trust and managed there.

Being Childfree doesn’t mean you don’t have a support system! We don’t have to be your first choice, but we should be your last choice.

List close friends, relatives, and chosen family first as your primary next of kin if you like.

Think of us as your guaranteed fallback: If they can’t step in to help in an emergency, we’ll be waiting. (In short, we’ll always be there to protect you in the end.)

Our partner trust company has no power to manage your investments while you are alive and competent.

If you become incapacitated and your financial power of attorney is activated, the trust company has the power to manage your cash and pay bills on your behalf. Your investments will be transferred into the trust after you’ve been incapacitated for six months or if it’s determined you have a long-term disability.

At that point, the trust company will manage your investments to ensure they meet the goals of your care.

If our partner trust company is listed as your trustee when you die, they will transfer your assets to their custodian (Fidelity) and distribute them according to the wishes laid out in your will.

Yes, this is exactly what the service is designed for. The goal is to follow your care document, file claims for your long-term care policy, get the checks, and pay the people.

Childfree Trust ensures your policy is activated and used — it doesn’t replace it.

The executor and trustee ensure this is done.

They will pay a professional service to clear out the house, sell it, and dispose of the assets according to your will and other wishes.

No. Your membership fee provides emergency support and protection for just one person, so each person in your household will need to purchase their own membership.

The only exception is for Childfree Wealth 360 clients: If you and your spouse are both working with us, both of your memberships are covered under your annual fee.

One of the best benefits of Childfree Trust: We move with you at no additional cost.

Follow the prompts in your dashboard to notify us that you’ve moved, and we’ll have you create new documents. You just need to sign, notarize, and mail to our partner trust company.

Your price only increases when the Social Security Administration’s cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) does.

That means when you get a raise from Social Security, so do we. If you don’t get a COLA from Social Security, we don’t raise our price. And we’ll raise fees only as much as COLA.

We do this to ensure Childfree Trust remains affordable.

Remember, prepaying for up to 3 years locks in your pricing with no COLA increases.

No, it does not.

Base membership is $999/year per person. You can also prepay for up to 3 years to lock in your membership rate.

You can also pay monthly for $99/month per person. Click here for more details on our pricing.

If you need our partner trust company’s services, such as acting as your power of attorney, additional costs will apply.

When serving as POA, the fee is $275/hour.

When our trust partner steps in as trustee, you’ll pay a retainer of 12 hours of service ($3,300/year), plus $275/hour for any hours beyond 12 needed for active management of your trust.

When your assets are in trust, there is a 0.10% administration fee on all assets.

Until then, enjoy peace of mind as a member for $999/year per person.

You can purchase one prepaid membership at a time.

So, if you choose a 3-year plan, you lock the price in for the term of your prepayment — but you’ll have to wait until the end of your plan period to buy another.

We will always honor your prepaid plan, but we may or may not offer prepaid plans in the future.

When your estate is settled, it will be charged either $275/hour for the work done (or the state maximum, which varies by state).

If you’ve been a Childfree Trust member for 24 months (2 years) or more, you’re covered under our Lifetime Legacy Promise.

If you run out of assets or money and end up on Medicaid, we’ll stop billing you and continue providing our trust services even if you can’t afford the monthly fee. Just upload a copy of your Medicaid card and notify our support team, and we’ll take care of the rest.

If your financial situation changes again and you’re no longer on Medicaid, resume your membership payments as normal to remain protected.

The 0.10% admin fee is on assets held in trust. In many cases it is not worth moving real estate into the trust, but it would be all stocks, bonds, cash, etc. When assets are in trust, there is a 12 hour retainer per year (at $275 per hour) and any additional hours are billed at $275 billed by our trust company partner. If you are just in POA, it is on an hourly basis.

You can create all of your legal documents before engaging in a paid service. Payment is only required to print the documents and make our partner trust company your official primary or backup POA, executor, or trustee. You will not have access to the Care Document section until you pay.

We do not offer refunds. If you’re not sure whether long-term membership is for you, we suggest a monthly or single-year membership.

That’s the benefit of trust companies — they are required to outlive their clients (that’s you!).

Trust companies are required to have large cash reserves in the case of dissolution. And if a trust company does dissolve, banking regulators are required to honor the duties the trust company promised.

Trust Companies and any individual working at the trust company must be fiduciary, meaning they legally must act in your best interests and follow your wishes. This legal standard is NOT adopted by all professionals we interact with – insurance or mortgage brokers, financial advisors, medical professionals, government officials, etc – so it is the gold standard of professional integrity.

The Alabama State Banking Department (where our Partner Trust Company is established) has an interest in ensuring any entity under their supervision is abiding by their contractual obligations to their clients. State regulators regularly conduct audits on their banks, trusts, and other institutions to ensure compliance with these commitments to their members. We can assure you that the State of Alabama takes this duty seriously, as it took nearly 18 months to get the trust company approved.

Trust companies are required to keep a minimum net capital levels to ensure they remain compliant – so that if any financial hardship were to take place, they have reserves to continue to service their clients.

As for the Trust administrators assigned to your case, they are all reviewed and approved by the Alabama Banking Administration. They’ll seek to build a care team of Aging Care Managers, who usually have a certification and are typically nurses, social workers, or people with degrees in gerontology.

Banking administrators oversee our partner trust company in all of its activities. This includes the management of POA services, trustee and executor services in addition to all internal policies and practices.

A list of recommended estate attorneys by state is coming soon. In the meantime, you can search for estate lawyers near you using FindLaw or your local bar association’s website.

No, we require that you create your estate documents in our portal using our templates. However, if you have a copy of your documents, you can move through the process much more efficiently since you already have answers to most of the questions!

It depends. Our system includes both estate documents (the legal documents you sign) and care plans.

Care plans outline what matters to you, what you care about and how you want to be cared for. Care plans can, and should, be updated often.

If you move states or want to change who you appoint as your executor, POA or trustee, you will need another set of documents. If you adopt a dog, you can add in their details without doing a new set of legal documents.

Tell us what’s changed, and we’ll tell you if you need new legal documents. If you do, we’ll help you generate new ones at no additional cost — all you have to do is sign, notarize, and send the new ones to our partner trust company.

We work with estate attorneys in each state to ensure our patented tool is generating legally enforceable documents for your state.

You can have these documents reviewed by your own attorney to ensure they meet your needs.

We are not providing legal advice, we are providing a self-service offering and documents you fill out on your own.

When you choose your state during setup, our system automatically generates the proper documents to match your state’s laws. (For example, each state has its own version of a medical power of attorney with different names, such as healthcare proxy or advanced directive.)

If you are looking to disinherit someone, here are a few considerations.
1) Children are not included as this is a Childfree Trust and having children disqualifies you from participating.
2) Your spouses conditions are based on state law. If you want to disinherit a spouse, you need to work with an attorney.
Siblings and parents are usually not able to receive items unless you include them in your will. For further questions, please reach out to Support@ChildfreeTrust.com.

The trust is a revocable trust allowing for flexibility and changes throughout your life.

Upon death, the trust will turn into an irrevocable trust meaning changes no longer can be made.

That’s correct. You’ll re-write your documents within our system – including your revocable trust.

Yes, this is included automatically.

Yes, wills are self-proving in states that allow it.

Your care documents may contain sensitive information, from financial details to passwords.

Rest easy: Our tech team has data security measures in place to encrypt all your data, protect your personal information, create regular backups, and safeguard your account from unauthorized access.