Why an Estate Plan to Disinherit?

by Anita Schnee, Attorney at Law

You won’t be surprised to see, on this blog, that we constantly urge you to come see us for a good estate plan. It is especially true if you are married without children and you want to disinherit a family member – for instance, a disappointing brother. You need a plan in place to make sure your brother doesn’t get anything from you. If you have no plan, the law will step in and may give your brother a share. If you yourself do not express your wishes in a legally binding way, laws generally leave your estate to extended family members.

Also, you ought to specifically designate how your property should be given to whomever of you – your spouse or you – survives the other spouse. And think about anybody else you’d like to see inherit – and, of course, the reverse, to specifically disinherit your brother.

If you’re thinking that grabbing a will off the internet would be a solution, wills are only the starting point. They open up your estate to court proceedings and those are expensive, cause delay, and are open to public scrutiny. Especially if you own your home, you need a low-cost, efficient deed that would avoid all that.

And last but far from least, you need legally binding documents for when you are still with us but disabled, to appoint people to help manage your financial affairs and health care.

Estate planning is not simple, but inheriting property doesn’t have to be the expensive mess it can be. Come see us to shave costs and create a thoughtful and efficient plan that will work the way you want it to.