AVOIDING INHERITANCE CONFLICTS

by Mark Ishman on Oct. 26, 2012

Estate Trusts Estate  Wills & Probate 

Summary: Unfortunately, your passing may likely lead to family battles over your personal belongings and other like inheritance conflicts. Any planning that can be implemented today to elevate such pain to your surviving loved ones must be considered by you.

AVOIDING INHERITANCE CONFLICTS

 

When your inevitable day comes, your surviving loved ones will sorrow for you. Each of them will deal with the loss of you in their own unique way. There will be days, months and years often filled with emotion and conflicts among and between your surviving loved ones. Unfortunately, this likely leads to family battles over your personal belongings and other like inheritance conflicts. Any planning that can be implemented today to elevate such pain to your surviving loved ones must be considered by you.

 

At the surface of most inheritance conflicts appears to be greed and pettiness over what was left for the survivors. However, a closer examination of inheritance conflicts reveals that there are actually signs of survivors struggle to feel loved by you and important to you. Studies have found that the battles for dad’s watch, or mom’s wedding ring, are not just about the material items, but rather, what these items symbolize to surviving loved ones, i.e., how important they were to you and how much you loved them.

 

When families fight about inheritance, surprisingly money and greed are rarely the cause of the conflict. Most of the time, the source of the conflict can be traced back for years, even back to childhood. As an elder in your family, you probably already know what conflicts exists among your loved ones. The last thing that you would ever want to leave for your surviving loved ones is additional fuel to the existing ongoing conflicts between them. Unless you elect to be proactive, upon your death your loved ones could be entrenched in a long inheritance conflict lasting for years and costing thousands of dollars.

 

However, with careful planning, you can avoid the in heritance conflicts among your loved ones. After all, the reason why you plan for your death is not for you, but for those whom you love the most.

 

This is why you need to seek the advice from a family wealth lawyer on what is fair and customary. We use our legal and personal skills to document your wishes while being sensitive to the needs of those left behind. Special care must be taken to not upset long-held roles when allocating personal and financial assets and in appointing fiduciaries. You should consider mending fences while your loved ones are still alive, and implement estate planning that leaves a legacy of love and not of conflicts. We can assist you in these goals and protect your loved ones from predators from within and without the the family who are most likely to manipulate and abuse your surviving loved ones. In short, we can make a difference.

 

With your instruction to us on your importance of family, money and personal belongings, we will work together to formulate an estate plan that addresses your family dynamics and wealth so that inheritance conflict is avoided upon your death.

 

But you will not know unless you talk to a family wealth lawyer who can guide you and help you formulate a strategy to avoid inheritance conflicts. To help you obtain the insight and planning you need provide for your loved ones, we are waiving our usual ($750) Family Wealth Planning Session fee. Please come and see us right away because planning can take time. Hurry in and see us. Call….

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