“This
is the thing people who disinherit someone don’t understand: It puts a huge
amount of pressure on those who aren’t being disinherited,” says Caschetta,
whose experience inspired her to write a book on the subject that she's trying
to get published. “Suddenly you have this rift and they have this choice. ‘Do I
do what Dad wanted when he wrote this will and he was angry, even though many
years have passed and we know they made up?’ Everybody’s put in this terrible
position.”
Deciding who will inherit your
estate and how much they will inherit is a tough decision that takes a lot of
thought and consideration. So imagine how hard it can be to elect to disinherit an heir.
How is “disinheritance”
difficult? What should you consider before disinheriting a family member? This
subject was the focus of a recent article in Bloomberg titled “You Want to Cut Your Kid Out of Your Will.
Or Do You?”
For starters, there are some
very good reasons to support a total disinheritance. Petty differences or
outright malice aside, you may choose to disinherit heirs who are well off in
their own right. Consequently, more of the inheritance can be left to those
heirs who are less well off.
More commonly, however, a disinheritance is used due
to parental displeasure or lack of familial contact. Before you decide to
disinherit, be sure you will not have a change of heart later. If you
do, then you may not have the
legal “capacity” to make such a change to your estate plans.
Beyond your own decisions are
the consequences to each of your heirs. Will it change relationships between
those who inherited and those who did not? It is important to evaluate the
cause and effect of your decisions on all concerned.
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Reference: Bloomberg
(July 23, 2013) “You Want to Cut Your Kid Out of Your Will.
Or Do You?”