How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

How Can I Make Sure My Son-In-Law Does Not Inherit?

Just to be clear, we’re not talking about disinheriting an individual here. Any Johnstown estate planning attorney will tell you a person cannot be disinherited unless they’ve already been named as a beneficiary in your will. So you don’t have to worry about disinheriting anyone, not on the list of potential beneficiaries.

We use the term “potential” because a will can always be changed and updated based on new situations.

However, it can be possible for someone to come into a beneficiary’s inheritance in a roundabout way, in a way not intended by the benefactor. For example suppose you’ve named your beloved daughter as the sole beneficiary of your estate, and after coming into the inheritance, the daughter suffers a fatal accident and the inheritance comes into possession of your son-in-law.

Now, you specifically wanted the daughter to be the beneficiary and not your son in law; he may be a nice guy and all, but you had specific wishes that your estate go to your daughter or barring that, other possible relatives of your choosing, and not end up in the hands of a whole other family (your in-laws).

So How Can This Be Prevented?

The simplest solution would be to place the inheritance items in question into a trust.

A trust will allow the person to hand down specific assets to specific beneficiaries without having to deal with probate challenges.

It’s easy to learn about setting up a trust in the state of Pennsylvania. An experienced estate planning attorney like Johnstown Estate Planning Attorney, Dan Hill, can guide you on picking the kind of trust you want, choosing the assets/goods you want to be included in the trust, picking a trustee to manage the trust, properly execute the trust document, and overall properly set up the trust.

There are two basic trusts with one that can be set up while you are alive, and the others they are created as outline in your estate plan, upon your death. The living trust, set up while you are alive, allows the estate owner the option to make changes to their beneficiary plans as new situations occur. Suppose, for example, the intended beneficiary passes away before the estate owner. The owner can then name new beneficiaries and/or name alternate beneficiaries.

In general, by naming alternate beneficiaries, the estate owner creates a line of succession that allows the assets to go exactly where the owner wants them to go. Is the primary beneficiary no longer able to receive the assets? Their children can be assigned as the secondary beneficiary. If those beneficiaries are not available either then a third beneficiary could be listed as alternate and so forth. Again such decisions can be assisted by an experienced Johnstown Estate Planning Attorney who can give good suggestions for how to select alternates.

It may seem morbid to try thinking that far down the line of who might be available to receive the owner’s assets, but it also presents the best way to ensure the owner’s wishes that his/her assets goes to whomever he/she desires and keep it within the original benefactor’s family.

So if you want to ensure your assets go directly to specific persons or parties and not inadvertently to an unintended individual, proper estate planning and subsequent monitoring is your best option.  Take the time to make plans with a trusted attorney to ensure your will, trust, and other estate plan documents reflect your wishes.

Contact Your Johnstown Estate Planning Lawyer Today

To learn more about how a Johnstown estate planning attorney can be of service to you and your family, contact the Hill Group LLC today.