Disinheritance: The Elephant in the Room
Are you a bad person for wanting to disinherit a son, daughter, or family member who would otherwise have a stake in your property at your death? Definitely not. Disinheritance actually happens more often than you think. You can effectively disinherit an heir by clearly stating your intent to do so in your will or trust documents to ensure that your decision to disinherit won’t be misunderstood as a mistake.
The reasons for considering disinheritance may vary. Perhaps you have a strained relationship with a family member and wish to leave them nothing. On the kinder side of things, maybe you helped put your daughter through law school, but your son never asked for a dime. By disinheriting your daughter, you can “even the score” by ensuring your son receives all of your remaining assets. No matter what your reason, disinheriting by will can give you an opportunity to control where your assets go—and do not go—after death. Additionally, in your will, you can state your reason for the disinheritance to assure there are no hard feelings if that is a concern.
Disinheritance is not an easy topic for discussion. Nevertheless, if you are interested in disinheriting a potential heir via your will, you should discuss the idea with your estate planning attorney. You may also wish to discuss the possibility of creating a living trust which will give you the opportunity to designate beneficiaries and determine how much (or how little) they will receive upon your death.
The attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri have decades of experience handling complex estate planning matters including wills and living trusts. If you are interested in developing an estate plan or reviewing your current estate plan, contact the experienced estate planning attorneys at Lonich Patton Erlich Policastri for further information.
Please remember that each individual situation is unique and results discussed in this post are not a guarantee of future results. While this post may detail general legal issues, it is not legal advice. Use of this site does not create an attorney-client relationship.