A Couple Alternatives To Disinheritance

Martin Shenkman, an estate lawyer andplanner with 30 years of experience explains his take on disinheritance, “inmost cases I find disinheritance occurs not because the parent hates the childbut because the parent feels hurt.” Something people do not realize is thatthere are alternatives to disinheritance.

The alternative all depends on therationale behind disinheriting someone. Occasionally, parents leave more moneyto a child in need. For parents facing this type of scenario a “sprinkletrust” may be a good option. In a “sprinkle trust” a financial institutionassesses the financial situation of the heirs and adjusts the paymentsaccording to each child’s needs. 

Some parents disinherit the child that isbattling an addiction or some other difficulty. The parent is faced withenabling the dependency or disinheriting the child. An alterative todisinheriting the child is creating a trust that requires they attend a rehabcenter and have random drug tests administered. The trust can be set up to helpthe child if they meet the requirements that the creator of the trust setsup. 

See Lewis Braham, You Want To Cut Your Kid Out Of Your Will. Or Do You?, Bloomberg, Jul. 23, 2013.