Estate planners use the term “natural objects of one’s reward” to refer to those people who would be expected to receive a portion of a person’s estate upon death. Typically, the natural objects of a person’s reward are members of the immediate family who would take a portion 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. However, there are times when a parent decides to leave more assets to a child than to others or to disinherit a child entirely. A parent can legally disinherit a child in all states except Louisiana. This article describes the reasons a parent might consider disinheriting a child and suggests some less drastic alternatives that parents might consider.

Reasons for disinheriting a child

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, social worker, and unknown artist, the father may leave everything to the social worker and artist because the neurosurgeon can largely support his own family.

– Child already provided. A parent may have been more helpful to a child than to other children in their lifetime. For example, if the parents assign the neurosurgeon to college, medical school, and other training, the parents may feel that the child has already received their share of the family’s wealth.

– Dependent parent. An elderly father lives with his daughter and her family in her later years. She takes care of his affairs, takes him to medical 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 the help of his daughter, the father may decide to leave all his property to her, and the children take little or nothing.

– Strangely. A father has two sons and a daughter. The daughter and a son excelled in school, attended college, and followed in the footsteps of their father’s military service. The other son dropped out of high school and lived with a number of women while doing odd jobs. The father, a high-ranking official, believes that the son’s failures reflect poorly on his entire 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 his entire estate to the successful son and daughter, completely omitting the other son.

– 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. Parents’ greatest fear is what will happen to their child after both of them die. Rather than dividing their property into three equal parts, the parents decide to leave all or most of their property in a special needs trust for the child with autism.

– Controlling parent. A dominant mother has a son, a son. Throughout his life, the son never failed to live up to his mother’s high expectations. After college and law school, the son falls in love with a free-spirited woman who takes drugs from time to time and makes a scant living writing poetry and short stories. The mother strongly disapproves of the relationship and disinherits her son because the son marries the woman without her consent. The mother leaves her entire inheritance to nephews and nephews.

– Work ethic. A poor parent enrolls in college and graduate school. Start a company and earn millions with a public offering. The father believes that his children should make the same 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.

Warning note

Disinheritance of a child should not be taken lightly because it can be an intensely emotional step on both sides. Parents who make a will to disinherit a child can feel guilty for the rest of their lives. A child who does not find out about being disinherited until after the death of his parents may be devastated to learn of his parents’ rejection.

Note that a will does not go into effect until the testator dies. Many things can happen during the intervening 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 state to 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 amends 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 of the son’s descendants. All his property is left to two other children. Subsequently, the son marries and has a son. The birth of the grandson changes everything. The father now wants the part of the disinherited son to go to the grandson. If time permits and the father does not procrastinate, he can execute a codicil to the will that the grandson provides. If the will is not modified, both the son and the grandson 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 everyone involved agrees that the disinheritance of a child is unfair, the parent has the right to dispose of his property in whatever legal way he sees fit.