An elderly woman on her deathbed has an estate worth $400,000. She has four children and a will stating that she wants each child to receive 25 percent of her assets after she dies.The situation seems simple enough: The woman has a legal document in place—a will—that contains specifics on how she wants her estate to be passed along to her children. But according to estate-planning experts, this woman's death could kick off a long and expensive legal process that often turns ugly. Fights over inheritance can cause rifts in families that are sometimes impossible to heal, these experts say.
"Family fights among children after death occurs in a large percentage of families," says Tim O'Sullivan, a partner and estate planning and tax attorney at Kansas law firm Foulston Siefkin. "If the No. 1 goal is to create family harmony, then the estate plan ought to be designed in a way that preserves it. It's so sad to see what happens in these situations."
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How to Avoid Fights Over Inheritence
Sibling contracts would help avoid the .
ReplyDeleteNASGA says: "If you don't know your rights, you don't have any!"
ReplyDeleteDoesn't mstter what kind of documents you select; if you get in front of a corrupt guardian judge, they're either shredded or altered.
Most families don't think there will be a fight, but it's happening more and more often.
ReplyDeleteIt happens, because the Last Will and Testament of an elder deceased, are not followed. In other words, it is has become wortless over time due to corrupt attorneys and the complying judicary. Save your time and efforts, people, give it away to a worhwhile Institution, which has the legal respect to get it. Better yet, leave it to the State.....
ReplyDeleteSpend It or give it away while you are still alive. A good rule of thumb is add up the ages of your parents or grandparents when they died. Divide by two. Then subtract five. This is the age you need to have spent or have given away anything you want to give to someone after you are dead. The government has a "five year lookback" now too. Google five year lookback. It used to be three years.
ReplyDelete