Why do parents disinherit their children?
Estate planners use the term “natural objects of one’s generosity” to refer to those people who are expected to receive a portion of a person’s estate at their death. Typically, the natural objects of a person’s generosity are immediate family members who would take a share of the estate if the person died without a will. For example, if a woman has a husband and three children, those four individuals are presumed to be the natural objects of her generosity. In most cases, children expect to receive equal shares of their parents’ estate. There are times, however, when a parent decides to leave more of the estate to one child than to others or to disinherit a child altogether. A parent can legally disinherit a child in all states except Louisiana. This article outlines the reasons why a parent might consider disinheriting a child and suggests some less drastic alternatives that parents might consider.
Reasons for disinheriting a child
The disinheritance of a child is not as rare as some might think. Here are some reasons a parent might have for omitting a child from their will.
– Lack of need. A parent can exclude a child from the will because the other children need more help. For example, if the children are a neurosurgeon, a social worker, and an unknown artist, the father may leave everything up to the social worker and artist because the neurosurgeon can amply support his own family.
– Child planned already. A parent may have given more help to a child than to other children during life. For example, if the parents enrolled the neurosurgeon in college, medical school, and other training, the parents may feel that the child has already received her share of the family’s wealth.
– dependent parent. An elderly father lives with his daughter and her family in his later years. She takes care of his business, takes him to doctor’s appointments, and takes care of his needs. If it weren’t for the daughter’s support, the father would be forced to live in a nursing home. Two sons live out of state and rarely visit their father. In gratitude for his daughter’s help, the father may decide to leave him all of her property, leaving the children with little or nothing.
– Remoteness. A father has two sons and a daughter. The daughter and son excelled in school, attended college and followed in their father’s military service footsteps. The other son dropped out of high school and lived with a series of women while doing odd jobs. The father, a high-ranking official, believes that the son’s failures reflect badly on the whole family. The father warns the son that he is no longer welcome in the family. The son drifts to another state and the estrangement lasts for years. The father leaves all of his estate to the successful son and daughter, omitting the other son entirely.
– disabled child. A family has three children, one of whom has autism. It is not clear if the child with autism will ever be able to lead an independent life. The biggest fear for parents is what will happen to their child after they are both dead. Instead of dividing their property into three equal parts, parents decide to leave all or most of their property in a special needs trust for the child with autism.
– controlling father. A domineering mother has a child, a son. Throughout her life, the son never failed to live up to her mother’s high expectations. After college and law school, the son falls in love with a free-spirited woman who takes the occasional drug and makes a meager living writing poetry and short stories. The mother strongly disapproves of the relationship and disinherits the son from her because the son marries the woman without her consent. The mother leaves all her estate to her nieces and nephews.
– Work ethic. A father from a poor background enrolls in college and graduate school. He founds a company and makes millions from a public offering. The father believes that his children should put in the same kind of effort that he did instead of living off his wealth for the rest of their lives. The father leaves $100,000 to each child and donates the rest to charity.
cautionary note
The disinheritance of a child is not to be taken lightly because it can be an intensely emotional step on both sides. Parents who make a will disinheriting a child may feel guilty for the rest of their lives. A child who does not learn that he has been disinherited until after his parents’ death may be devastated to learn of his parents’ rejection of him.
Keep in mind that a will does not take effect until the testator dies. Many things can happen during the interim period. For example, a mother and daughter who have been separated for years may reconcile in the days or hours before the mother’s death. The mother can testify in front of witnesses in her hospital room that she regrets having disinherited her daughter and that she now wants the daughter to share her estate. However, unless the mother revokes or modifies her will, her oral statements cannot modify the terms of the written will.
Irreconcilable differences cause a father to disinherit a 20-year-old son and all his descendants. All his property is left to two other sons. Subsequently, the son marries and has a son. The birth of the grandson changes everything. The father now wants the disinherited son’s share to go to the grandson. If time permits and the father does not delay, he can issue a codicil to the will for the grandson. If the will is not modified, both the child and the grandchild will be omitted.
Conclusion
Some say that disinheriting a child is unnatural or even immoral. However, it is advisable not to judge, because looking at a family situation from the outside in does not always reveal the true picture. Even if all involved agree that the disinheritance of a child is wrongful, the father has the right to dispose of the child’s property in whatever legal way he sees fit.