As time goes on and your family dynamics change, you might find yourself thinking about disinheriting someone. It’s rarely a comfortable process, and many people hesitate to finalize estate plan action that cuts someone close to them out of their inheritance scheme. Yet, doing so is oftentimes warranted. You might no longer trust the individual in question, or you may have concerns about how their inheritance will be spent. Regardless of your motivations for disinheriting someone, you have to navigate the process with care. Otherwise, you may not secure the outcome you want, thereby leaving your estate susceptible to challenge.
There are right and wrong ways to disinherit someone, too. That’s why in this post we want to look at some of the most common mistakes that are made when trying to disinherit someone. That way you can take your next steps with care and confidence while protecting your interests as fully as possible.
Don’t make these mistakes when attempting to disinherit someone
There are several errors that can be made when trying to disinherit someone. Here are some of the most common and most detrimental that you could make if you’re not careful:
- Using ambiguous phrasing: When you disinherit someone, you need to be unequivocally clear. If you use vague or ambiguous wording, then your intent can be misinterpreted. This leaves your estate susceptible to legal challenge, which can be costly and time-consuming while also threatening to lead to an undesired outcome.
- Failing to use a no-contest clause: This provision in your estate plan specifies that any beneficiary or heir who challenges the estate and is unsuccessful will be disinherited. This can be a powerful way to ensure that those who are disgruntled will be completely cut out of your estate’s distribution if they make waves.
- Merely neglecting to update the estate plan: Life changes, and so do your relationships. Your estate plan needs to be periodically modified to reflect your newfound circumstances. Divorces and disagreements may be enough to change your estate plan, so be sure to revisit yours after major life events as well as on a periodic occasion.
- Forgetting to change beneficiary designations: While you’ll certainly want to update your will and any trust documentation to reflect your desired disinheritance, you can’t forget about those assets that fall outside of a traditional estate plan. For example, if you have a pay on death account that names a beneficiary, then you’ll need to change the beneficiary designation for that account specifically and directly, otherwise someone you don’t want to inherit from you may wind up with a significant portion of your estate.
- Leaving a symbolic amount: You might think that leaving a token amount to someone you otherwise want to disinherit will send a clear message. But this can be a big mistake, as it could give the individual in question even more standing to challenge your estate plan. If you’re going to disinherit someone, do it the right way and do it completely.
Making a mistake when trying to disinherit someone can prove costly to your estate, and it could result in someone you distrust securing a large portion of your assets. So, if you’re interested in completely removing someone from your estate plan’s distribution scheme, you have to do it the right way. If you need guidance in figuring out what that looks like, then consider discussing the matter with your estate planning attorney. By doing so, you’ll hopefully be able to rest easy at night knowing that you’ve made the decisions and taken the action that protects your vision of the future.