Although it’s regrettable, it happens. A terrible rift develops between a parent and child and the child no longer has any contact with the parent. In those cases, you may want to consider drafting your estate plan so that child doesn’t get an equal share.I have a case now, where a woman got divorced young out of an abusive relationship, the husband kept the kids, and even after they became adults, the kids wanted nothing to do with her – no Mother’s Day cards, no holiday phone calls, nothing. However, she recently died without a will. These children who wanted nothing to do with mom while she was alive are now more than willing to claim their intestate share as her children. And the child she had later, who has been there for mom all along, sees his share diminshed significantly.
It’s not fair, but that’s what the law is. That was because mom died intestate. But, if she had done up a will or a trust that acknowledged she had these daughters, but she was intentionally leaving them nothing, than they would not be receiving this windfall from their mother’s early death.
At Brightwell Elder and Probate Law, we can talk to you about the circumstances of your family, and help you draft an estate plan that takes those circumstances in mind – even if it means that an estranged child is disinherited.
