Estate Planning For Peace Of Mind

Should each child be left an equal inheritance?

On Behalf of | Sep 1, 2021 | Estate Planning |

When you’re part of a big Texas family, making every child feel equally loved is probably important to you. While you’re creating your estate plan, it might make sense for you to leave each child an equal portion of your estate. However, dividing your estate between children is not always as simple as sharing a pizza.

Dividing the estate equally may avoid conflict

Many parents decide to leave each child an equal inheritance as a way to avoid conflict between siblings. After all, the last thing most parents want to create is a situation where their kids are fighting over money. While there are likely differences in each child’s financial needs, splitting the pie equally can still be a valid estate planning decision.

Sometimes equal is not actually fair

If there are vast differences between your children’s financial needs, then splitting your assets equally between them may not actually be fair. For example, if you have a child with permanent disabilities, it may be fair to leave that child a larger portion of your estate. By the same token, a child who is independently wealthy may not need as much financial help as your other children do.

Tangible assets may be valued differently by each child

Dividing the contents of financial accounts is much easier than dividing tangible assets like real estate, cars and sentimental family heirlooms. Although you can technically put a price on these things, you know in reality that it’s impossible to divide them equally.

While you are doing your estate planning, it’s important to think about how each child values your tangible assets. You probably want to leave each of your tangible assets to the child who values it the most since that will be the person who is most likely to preserve it.