Why Estate Plans Avoid Family Fued

The following is a list of reasons that good estate planning can help parents avoid family feuds among their children after they pass away:

• Parents hold families together.  After the parents die, there is no one to keep rivalries in-check.
• Many disputes are not over the valuable items, but the sentimental items that could be dealt with rather easily before death.
• Parents make mistakes when selecting an executor for their estate.  Parents falsely assume that the oldest child is the most responsible or that all children should be co-executors.
• Parents may place restrictions on trust funds that go too far and encourage less-than-ideal behavior.  For example, one couple stipulated that the first child to produce a grandson would receive a large, outright distribution.  The son who first sired was more prepared for his monetary prize than he was for his ensuing parental responsibility.

Ultimately, the goal of good estate planning is to avoid a feud that ends like these:

The irate sister who smashed a crystal vase in her attorney’s parking lot, rather than hand it over to her sister after Mom died. The squabbling siblings who spent three years and $15,000 battling over a few hundred dollars worth of JC Penney and Kmart knickknacks. The brother who shot his deceased sister’s beloved dog in order to collect his inheritance.

Claudia Buck, Estate plan can avoid family fued, April 25, 2010.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Wealth Counsel) for bringing this to my attention.