When your inevitable day comes, your surviving loved ones will grieve for you. Each of them will deal with the loss of you in their own unique way. There will be days, months and years often filled with emotion and conflicts among and between your surviving loved ones. Unfortunately, this can often lead to family battles over personal belongings and other similar inheritance conflicts. Any planning that can be implemented today to alleviate such pain to your surviving loved ones must be considered by you.
Greed and pettiness appear at first blush to be the cause of most inheritance conflicts. However, a closer examination of inheritance conflicts reveals that they are actually signs of the survivors’ deep desire to feel connected and important to you. Studies have found that the battles for dad’s watch or mom’s wedding ring are not just about the material items, but rather what these items symbolize to surviving loved ones, i.e., how important they were to you and how much you loved them.
When families fight about inheritance, money and greed are rarely the cause of the conflict. Most of the time, the source of the conflict can be traced back for years, even back to childhood. As an elder in your family, you probably already know what conflicts exist among your loved ones. The last thing that you would ever want to leave for your surviving loved ones is additional fuel for any existing ongoing conflicts.
Unless you elect to be proactive, upon your death your loved ones could be entrenched in a long inheritance conflict lasting for years and costing thousands of dollars. However, with careful planning, you can avoid the inheritance conflicts among your loved ones. After all, the reason why you plan for your death is not for you, but for those whom you love the most.
This is why you need to seek the advice of a Personal Family Lawyer® on what is fair and customary. We use our legal training and knowledge to document your wishes while being sensitive to the needs of those left behind. You should consider mending fences while your loved ones are still alive, and implement estate planning that leaves a legacy of love — not of conflicts. We can assist you in these goals and protect your loved ones from predators within and without the family who are most likely to manipulate and abuse your surviving loved ones. In short, we can make a difference.
With your instruction to us regarding the importance of family, money and personal belongings, we will work with you to formulate an estate plan that addresses your family dynamics and wealth so that inheritance conflict is avoided upon your death.
To your family’s health, wealth and happiness!
David Feakes
P.S. Want to get started on the most important planning you’ll ever do for your family? Give our office a call at (978) 263-6900 to get started. You’ll be so glad you did.
David Feakes is the owner of The Parents Estate Planning Law Firm, PC – a law firm for families in the Acton, Massachusetts area. David helps parents protect the people they love the most. If you would like to receive David’s exclusive, free report, “Six Major Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing An Estate Planning Attorney,” you can get it right here.
The Parents Estate Planning Law Firm, PC
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