What if I Don’t Want One of My Children to Get Any Part of My Estate Upon My Passing?
There may be many reasons that you do not want one of your children to receive any part of your Estate upon your death. You may not have a good relationship with that child, or maybe you feel like that child is better off than the rest of your children, so they do not need any part of your Estate. Whatever the reason, you are certainly able to disinherit a child in your Last Will & Testament. It is important that you have a Will drawn up if you want to disinherit a child, because you will not be able to disinherit them if you do not have one. Your Will must make it very clear that you are wanting to disinherit this child so that it does not seem like a mistake was made and you just accidentally “left them out of the Will”. Simply failing to mention the child in your Will is certainly not a good idea, as this may lead the Court to think a mistake was made or that this child was born before your Will was drawn up; therefore, the Court may think that child should be entitled to some part of your Estate. It is very important to state your intention clearly in your Will.
You do not have to state the reason you want to disinherit your child, but some people find it useful to leave a letter (separate from their Will) which states the reason that a child is being disinherited. If you do this though, make sure your letter does not contradict anything that you have written in your Will.
If you have any further questions about disinheriting a child, contact Amanda Crowell at Kane & Crowell Family Law Center at www.kane-law.com or by phone at (615) 784-4800. Let us put our experience to work for you.