• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
< class="site-title" itemprop="headline">Flood & Masiuk LLC | Southampton Estate Planning Attorneys

Attorneys At Law

  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • About The American Academy
    • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • Speaker Connection
  • Estate Planning
    • Asset Protection and Business Planning
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning Services
    • Trust Administration and Probate
  • Elder Law
    • Are You A Caregiver?
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Emergency Medicaid & Nursing Home Planning
    • Guardianship & Conservatorship
    • Hospice Care
    • Medicaid Planning
    • Veteran’s Benefits
  • Seminars
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Elder Law Reports
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Needs Checklist
      • Estate Planning Reports
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Legacy Wealth Planning FAQ’s
      • LGBTQ Estate Planning FAQs
      • Trust Administration & Probate FAQs
    • LGBTQ Resources
    • Newsletters
    • Special Needs Resources
    • Trust Administration & Probate Resources
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
Home / General / Everyone Has Feelings…The funny thing about Inheritance

Everyone Has Feelings…The funny thing about Inheritance

October 24, 2013 by Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney

Inheritance is a funny thing. People who inherit seem to equate their share with how much they were loved by the deceased.

Most times, how much an heir receives and how much they were loved has absolutely nothing to do with each other. Here are a couple of examples of how a well-intentioned parent can do major violence to the feelings of the child who gets the short end of the stick.

Imagine a family with two children. Both kids are raised, loved and educated equally. One of the kids, however, becomes a successful business person and wealthy. Fate and fortune, however, are not so kind to the other child, who is plagued by illness, unemployment and divorce.

The parents see me to write their wills. Looking at their childrens respective lives, they say something to me like this:

Our rich child has his own money, because life worked out for him and he became rich. He doesnt need our money. We should give most of it to the child that could really use it.

Another example is one that, unfortunately, I see quite a bit: Parents with several children, one of whom has special needs and is receiving a needs-based government benefit. Because the parents know enough about benefits law to understand that the receipt of an inheritance by their special needs child will disqualify that child from receiving further benefits, the parents intentionally disinherit their special needs child.

In both examples, the parents were acting with what they thought were the best of intentions. The children who received less than their siblings, or no inheritance at all, received an entirely different message:

Mom (or dad) didnt love me as much as my siblings (or didnt love me at all).

Ive seen self-made millionaires cry when they learned that their parents didnt remember them in the same way as their siblings. And when you think about it, you can see that one who doesnt receive an equal share of inheritance might feel punished because they did well financially in their life, or punished because they werent as smart or as able as their brothers or sisters.

A will or a trust may be the last words which your kids receive from you. Regardless of what YOU intend, your beneficiaries are going to equate inheritance with love.

We all know that love is not money. Certainly you can leave whatever you want to whomever you want, but before you do, please take a moment and think about how your children might view what you leave them, because, as Ive said,

Inheritance is a funny thing.

 

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney
Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney
As the founder and managing partner of the Southampton, Pennsylvania law firm of Flood & Masiuk, LLC, Marianne Flood oversees a practice devoted to providing clients with personalized service and counsel in all aspects of estate planning.
Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney
Latest posts by Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney (see all)
  • What Is a Qualified Personal Residence Trust? - July 24, 2015
  • Will Medicaid Take My Home? - July 22, 2015
  • 2015 Estate Tax Exclusion Adjustment Released By IRS - July 18, 2015

Filed Under: General

About Marianne Flood, Estate Planning Attorney

As the founder and managing partner of the Southampton, Pennsylvania law firm of Flood & Masiuk, LLC, Marianne Flood oversees a practice devoted to providing clients with personalized service and counsel in all aspects of estate planning.

Primary Sidebar

Blog Subscription

Flood & Masiuk LLC | Southampton Estate Planning Attorneys

112 Lakeside Park
Southampton, PA 18966
Phone: (215) 322-6330
Fax: (215) 322-9199

MAP

map for Flood & Masiuk LLC office

Opening Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Footer

  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us

© 2020 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

All Rights Reserved.
Attorney Advertisement

footer-logo
  • fb
  • twitter
  • linked-In