Family Inheritance Question

[HoustonHunter]

Inheritance can break a family in a heartbeat. I wouldn't feel entitled to anything and if I receive anything, consider it a blessing.

This. My dad passed away 2 years ago and if he left any message for us, it was to love one another and not turn against each other for "stuff".

Sleepy has some dam n good advice and I'd suggest following it. Money, in these situations, can show an ugly version of a person. Don't get caught up in it.

[Livin'2hunt]

Not to hijack a thread but I have dealt with this to an extent. Dad passed away and stepmom did what she pleased. I later found out that in that instance all belongings were mine and my brothers. Step kids didn't matter. Only bio kids. She has sold many items. Law requires an heir form to be signed by all bio children. It wasn't worth the fight in my opinion.

I've been thru it too. At the time of my Dad's passing, we were in the midst of family upheaval. My Dad had "stuff" and lots of it. For instance, a company, shop, tools, two trucks, boat, guns, tons of fishing gear, Hi-Lift hunting truck, pallets of reloading components and tools....you get the point. Years before, it had been made clearly known that I alone would receive ALL of the guns upon his death. Some of these guns are four generations old. The guns were all I cared about though, not even all of them. There were about 70 guns and I only cared about a dozen of them. My Dad's body wasn't even cold before my mother sold every single gun to the lowest bidder. It was out of spite and I knew it. I also knew, they never finalized an official will so, there was nothing I could do about it. FYI, the guns were the only thing my mother has sold since my father's death. It is what it is.

[stykshooter]

Mom's call ...... that's how I ended up with 218 acres & 18 acres with a home needless to say my two brothers were upset... Make sure she has an up to date will if she passes ur really in a family mess

[Shane]

I see similar circumstances all the time with my clients. More often than not, there is usually either one child that does all the work and all the helping with mom/dad while the siblings don't do much (because of distance or just because they don't want to), or there is one that does absolutely nothing while the other siblings all pitch in and help. More often than not, the siblings that do the helping don't expect or want anything extra from mom/dad. But the kids that don't want to ever lift a finger to help mom/dad always seem to want to be first in line to receive a big inheritance.

Some parents feel like "fair" is dividing everything equally, whether each child deserves anything or not. Other parents feel like "fair" is gifting and/or leaving larger portions to the child(ren) that were more involved in helping all their lives. Sometimes parents will want to leave more to a child who doesn't have much when the siblings are more well off already.

There's really no one "right" answer. Bottom line, as everybody else has said, is that it's mom's stuff. She can do whatever she wants to with it. As long as she's not suffering from dementia or something and being manipulated by a potential heir, she can make whatever decisions she chooses to make and the kids shouldn't complain about it. (But some of them will anyway.)