Most parents want to believe that their children or extended family members will get along after their deaths. No one wants to think that family members will battle over their deceased loved one’s estate after they are gone, but unfortunately, it happens quite often for several reasons. The stress of losing someone you love, along with the added stress of dealing with that loved one’s estate, can be a lot for even the closest of families. While it is not completely possible to avoid all arguments, certain steps can be taken in advance to at least mitigate these arguments if they do occur in the future.
Put Your Wishes in Writing
Having an estate plan and putting your wishes in writing is a good first step to ensure that your loved ones know how you want your affairs handled. Make sure these wishes are clear, including how property should be divided, who should receive what items, and who should oversee handling the estate. These wishes should be written in clear and concise language so that there can be no confusion as to what you, as the settlor, intended. Having an estate document, whether it be a will or a trust, notarized and witnessed can be hard to refute. Unless the person is not of sound mind or has been coerced into writing a document, ignoring the clear language in an estate document can be difficult. Estate litigation in this area is not only expensive, but courts will usually defer to what the grantor or settlor’s clear wishes were in writing.
Many times, people will want to avoid the cost of hiring an attorney to write these documents, but having a legal professional put your wishes into writing will make this even harder for your loved ones to dispute.
Sometimes, clients will want to include personal letters to their family members to explain why they have made certain decisions. These letters are not legally binding per se, but they can be used to demonstrate the individual’s intent. Also, they can be added help in explaining the reasoning behind certain decisions.
Third Party Intermediary
Many times, disputes come up with the adult children of the deceased when one of them is chosen as the executor or trustee. The others may feel resentful that the one child has control over everything and may question his or her decisions or motives. If that is a possibility, it may be wise for the parent to choose someone not connected to the family to handle the estate. This person may be a friend or trusted colleague. Another option could be to have a financial institution’s trust department handle administering the estate. This choice would involve the entity withdrawing a fee for their services, but that fee may be worth it if it means avoiding family conflict.
Gifts during Lifetime
If clients want to see certain family members receive items of personal property, such as jewelry or family heirlooms, without any argument, it may be advisable to gift these items during the client’s lifetime. The individual can ensure without any doubt that their loved one receives the item as desired, which avoids conflicts that can come up after the person is gone.
Let Your Wishes Be Known
Discussing your wishes prior to your death may be an uncomfortable talk to have with loved ones, but it does help in making these wishes clear. Have open and honest discussions with your family regarding what you want and what you do not want. Ensure that your family also knows where all your important estate documents are located so that they can be easily found later, when needed. Providing these documents to your loved ones in advance can also be helpful in explaining how the estate will be divided and handled.
At Sullivan Law, we offer estate planning packages at a flat and reasonable fee. We also offer free consultations to discuss what your needs are, what you would like to do, and how that can be best accomplished. Everyone’s needs are different, and your wishes should be clearly listed and understood. Sullivan Law is also a provider law firm through the Hyatt Legal Plan and regularly helps clients employed by many of the regional companies in the Greater Detroit area.
Call us at 248.917.1351 or email at asullivan@sullivanlawonline.com to schedule your free consultation today. We look forward to working with you!