There are those who would say that their money is exclusively their own business, but when it comes to estate planning this is not entirely true. You are in fact going to be giving out inheritances to others, so in a way it is their business to some extent.
This doesn’t mean that you are not the exclusive decision maker; however, your decisions are indeed going to impact your children and other people that may be on your inheritance list.
With this in mind you may want to consider discussing everything at a family meeting, especially if you are making the decision to give unequal inheritances to your children and/or grandchildren.
Why would you give siblings different amounts of money? The answer would be that some people consider the financial need of each recipient when they are drawing up a last will or creating trust terms.
There is no particular right or wrong because this is a purely personal matter, and you have the right to make your own choices.
At the same time, if you want to prevent a dissonant family dynamic after you pass away you may want to explain your reasoning to your family members so that they can come to grips with your decisions before you actually pass away.
In addition to the prevention of negative feelings that can damage relationships this type of communication can also circumvent future estate challenges, because an heir who feels as though he or she was treated unfairly could decide to contest the estate.
Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney
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