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How to avoid family conflict in estate planning

On Behalf of | Mar 3, 2021 | Estate Planning |

You may have several objectives when working on your Georgia estate plan, and one of those objectives may include minimizing the chances of infighting among your beneficiaries after your death. Unless you are careful when creating your estate plan, you run the risk of it creating conflicts and hurting the relationships that exist between your adult children or other beneficiaries. 

To help minimize family conflicts following your passing, consider taking the following actions. 

Make equal distributions

Many inheritance battles arise because children receive different amounts from their parents’ estate plans. Leaving one child more than the other may raise questions about why you did so, whether you loved or trusted that child more and so on. 

Determine an executor

If you decide to name one of your children the executor over the estate over the other or others, share with your children why you made this decision. Maybe you chose one child because he or she lives in the same state as you, for example, or maybe you chose the child who has a background in finance or a similar area. 

Avoid attempting to divide “invisible” assets

You may also be able to minimize family conflicts after your death by avoiding trying to divide an invisible asset. An invisible asset refers to something like a trademark or copyright. If you decide to leave an invisible asset to one child, make up for it by leaving your other child or children assets of equal or similar value. 

When you want to minimize inheritance conflicts within your family, it may benefit you to over-communicate about your plans. Surprises have the potential to lead to discord, which may in turn fracture familial relationships. 

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