Should You Involve Your Heirs in Inheritance Planning?
By Barry Zimmer on October 20th, 2016 in Inheritance Planning
Inheritance planning is essential so you can ensure you give valuable gifts to heirs and so you can make sure those gifts are a blessing and never a burden. The inheritance planning process can be complicated and you have many important decisions to make throughout the process. One of those key decisions relates to whether to involve your heirs in the planning process or not.
There are pros and cons to involving your heirs in inheritance planning, and an experienced attorney can help you to evaluate your options.
Zimmer Law Firm has extensive experience assisting clients in planning how to leave behind a legacy and in taking care of their loved ones.
Our legal team helps clients navigate complicate family situations, make informed choices, and make the best use of legal tools. Give us a call as soon as possible to get advice from our Cincinnati inheritance planning lawyers and to discuss pros and cons of letting your loved ones know about your plans.
Advantages of Telling Heirs About Inheritance Planning
Telling heirs about inheritance planning has some significant advantages. When you discuss the planning process with your heirs, they can share their concerns and their wishes. There may be a special family heirloom with meaning to one of your children, for example. Your child can express this to you if you are willing to openly discuss the inheritance planning process.
Telling your loved ones about inheritance planning can also reduce the possibility of problems after your death, like someone contesting a will. If you are able to explain why you have made the decisions you have selected, this is generally more likely to result in your actual heirs and potential heirs respecting your wishes.
Discussing your plan also provides the opportunity for you to demonstrate that you are of sound mind and making decisions voluntarily. This is very important in order to make sure the plan which you have created is actually considered enforceable.
Disadvantages of Telling Heirs About Inheritance Planning
Telling heirs about inheritance planning has one big disadvantage: it can be very awkward and can sometimes lead to disagreements and problems between you and your loved ones. Time discussed this issue in an article in 2014 entitled “The Hardest Part of Making a Will: Telling Your Kids What’s in It.”
When you share your plan with your heirs during your lifetime, you may have to cope with anger from a child or other loved one who does not receive an expected inheritance. You could also find your children or loved ones fighting amongst themselves based on the gifts you have decided to give to them. There may even be situations where your potential heirs start trying to pressure you to change your mind, or cut off contact with you because they are not happy with the plans you have made.
The risk of angering your loved ones by telling them about your inheritance plan is usually the biggest reason why most people are reluctant to discuss the plan they have put into place. However, you could also have other concerns as well. You may not want your heirs to know details about your personal financial situation or property, and you could be setting yourself up for a situation where your heirs try to control you and your actions to maximize the value of an inheritance.
Ultimately, you need to think about what the likely reaction of your heirs will be and whether you are willing and able to deal with that reaction. If you do not believe you can handle the response from heirs when you share your inheritance plan with them, it is best not to tell and put yourself in a bad spot.
Getting Help from a Cincinnati Inheritance Planning Lawyer
Whether you involve your heirs inheritance planning or not, you need to involve an experienced legal professional who can provide you with the knowledge you need to make informed choices. Zimmer Law Firm has extensive experience providing assistance to people of all ages, with estates of all sizes, in the inheritance planning process.
Give us a call as soon as possible at 513.721.1513 to speak with a Cincinnati inheritance planning lawyer to learn about how we can help you. You can also download our FREE estate planning peace of mind checklist to learn more about the different ways in which we can assist you with the inheritance planning process.