Giving Children Uneven Distributions

When drafting their wills, parents often times must consider whether to leave each child an equal share or divide the estate unequally among them. Parent’s typically consider many factors when addressing this question, including their children’s financial success, financial need, relationship with the parents, and previous receipt of financial help.

When parents decided to distribute assets unevenly among children, it is important they consider how later legal challenges could alter this decision. Being open with children about future distribution plans, proving mental capacity, and writing extra letters of instruction to accompany the will are ways of helping to protect a will from future legal challenges.

Some estate attorneys recommend creating a statement in the will explaining why assets were distributed unevenly. Some family members equate inheritance amounts with love, and will feel less slighted if a statement exists explaining why child “A” received more money than child “B” due to the substantial financial needs of child “A”.

Other ways to ensure family members do not contest a will later on are to create serial wills or include no-contest provisions. Serial wills are a number of wills created by the testator over a period of months or years. Each will differs slightly than the previous, and demonstrates that the testator reviewed the wills each time he or she created a new one. A contestor must contest all the wills, which can be a very lengthy and pricey process. No-contest provisions state that a contestor will be disinherited if he or she challenges the will.

See Rachel Emma Silverman, Wills: How to Give One Child Less, Wall Street Journal, Sep. 11, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) and Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.