Disinheritance

Mary Beth Caschetta, an author from Massachusetts, recently wrote an article detailing how her father disinherited her in his will. After Caschetta’s father died, she discovered that he had deeded the house to Caschetta’s mother and made her mother the beneficiary of his investments. Caschetta’s father left the remainder of the estate to Caschetta’s three brothers, adding, “I leave no bequest to my daughter for reasons known to her.”

In her article, Caschetta explains the devastation and humiliation she felt after she discovered her disinheritance, and the self-growth and clarity that eventually resulted from the hurt. Caschetta has since researched disinheritance and the laws that allow it, and she is currently working on a book about disinheritance.    

Though this story his perhaps tragic, I am concerned about children thinking they are “entitled” to a parent’s property which they had nothing to do with earning (and, in fact, probably already benefited from it during the parent’s lifetime).

Mary Beth Caschetta, What Wasn’t Passed On, The New York Times, Dec. 8, 2011. 

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