Mark Glendon

5 Reasons Someone Might Disinherit a Child

Creating a will is a way to ensure that your assets are managed how you want after your death. It's a great way to protect your family, becoming a crucial part of your Estate Plan. While you might be happy with your will when initially writing it, things change. So what happens when you no longer want to include one of your kids in your will? Is that possible, and is learning how to disinherit a child difficult?

Common Reasons to Disinherit a Child

Before we get into how to complete this process, let's look at why people do it. The word "disinherit" comes with many emotions, and while it seems callous and heartless, there are many good reasons why these discussions come up.

Estrangement

Unfortunately, estrangement is more common than most realize. People have unresolved falling-outs, creating an unbreakable rift between family members. Alienation is most common between children and parents but can happen in many forms.

If you no longer have contact with a child, it makes sense to no longer view them as your heir.

Change in Marital Status

Sometimes, interest in disinheritance comes after divorce or remarriage. When multiple past marriages are involved, inheritance issues become increasingly complex. Your spouse is often entitled to at least half of your estate at the time of death. If you want to change that in any way, you must detail it in your will.

Need-Based Disinheritance

In some cases, disinheriting a child comes from a good place. Many parents write wills when kids are young or just getting started in life. If your child becomes a great success and doesn't need your inheritance, you can write them out of the will and focus on giving it to those who need it.

Medical Issues

A similar concept to the previous reason applies here. If a medical issue or change in health status affects a child's life expectancy, it makes sense to disinherit them and give your assets to a beneficiary who will get more use out of it.

Change of Heart

Many individuals will have a change of heart at some point, choosing to give their assets to charitable foundations instead of their children. In this case, you'd have to remove your children from your will and detail how you want to donate your assets.

How to Disinherit a Child

Disinheriting a child isn't as difficult as it seems. It requires a change to will documentation and careful wording. Turn to an estate and family planning attorney to flesh out the details of your will, and you can easily disinherit a child and make no mention of them in this legally binding document.

Author Resource:-

Mark writes often about estate planning. His articles may include topics like real estate closing attorney and business succession laws to help the people in needs. You can find his thoughts at estate planning services blog.