Morris Hall, PLLC

Estate Planning Attorneys

MakePayment with multiple options
CALL NOW: 1 (888) 222-1328
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Morris Hall
    • Attorneys
    • Career Opportunities
    • Client Membership Plan
    • Communities We Serve
      • Carefree
      • Chandler
      • Flagstaff
      • Mesa
      • Oro Valley
      • Phoenix
      • Prescott
      • Scottsdale
      • Sedona
      • Tucson
    • Morris Hall Core Values
    • Our Team
  • Estate Planning Services
    • Advanced Estate Planning
    • Asset Protection
    • Power of Attorney
    • Trust Administration and Probate
    • Wills and Trusts
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Elder Law Reports
    • Elder Law Resources
      • Mesa Elder Law
      • Phoenix Elder Law
      • Tucson Elder Law
    • Estate Planning
      • Do I Need an Estate Plan?
      • Estate Planning Problems
    • FAQs
      • Asset Protection Planning
      • Avoiding Probate
      • Business Succession Planning
      • Charitable Gifting
      • Dementia
      • DIY Estate Planning Forms
      • Financial Planning
      • Nursing Home Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Planning for Retirement
      • Power of Attorney
      • Probating a Small Estate in Arizona
      • Social Security Retirement Benefits
      • Tax Avoidance Planning
      • Trust Administration
      • Understanding Elder Abuse
      • Veterans Benefits
      • Wills
    • Probate Resources
      • Probate
      • Flagstaff Probate
      • Mesa Probate
      • Phoenix Probate
      • Sedona Probate
      • Tucson Probate
    • Published Books
      • Don’t Go Broke in a Nursing home
      • Tax Free Money for Long-Term Care!
    • Recent Law Changes and Improvements Affecting Arizona
    • Reports
    • Trusts Resources
      • These Case Studies Hammer Home the Value of a Living Trust
      • Update My Living Trust
    • Videos
    • What to Do When Death Occurs
      • What Not To Do When Someone Dies
      • Who To Contact After A Loved Ones Death
  • Reviews
    • Testimonials
    • Review Us
  • Locations
  • Events
    • Seminars / Webinars
    • Past Webinar Recordings
  • Contact
    • Consultation Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Discounts

The Parental Division Dilemma: How to Divide Your Estate

March 27, 2023 by Morris Hall, PLLC

The Parental Division Dilemma: How to Divide Your Estate

From the moment you became a parent you have likely felt the pressure to treat your children equally and not play favorites. That same pressure often asserts itself when it comes time to think about how to distribute your estate. When your children are minors, deciding how to divide your estate is less complicated. You will likely create a trust and let the trust protect all assets while the children are minors. Deciding to divide your estate equally among your minor children is an easy decision because there are no extenuating circumstances to consider at that point. A Phoenix estate planning attorney at Morris Hall PLLC discusses the parental division dilemma that occurs when you have adult children and when an equal division may not be best.

Extenuating Circumstances

Why might you not want your assets split evenly among your children?  There are several reasons why a parent might have legitimate concerns about gifting assets to an adult child, including:

  • Addiction. As a parent you probably don’t want to admit that your child has a serious addiction; however, if you have an adult child with a drug, alcohol, gambling, or other addiction, it is imperative that you acknowledge the problem when making estate planning decisions because failing to do so could have disastrous consequences, both for the inheritance you leave that child and for your child.
  • The in-law threat. If your adult child marries, you gain a son-in-law or daughter-in-law. The moment the ink is dry on the marriage certificate, your new in-law becomes a potential threat to your assets. Anything you gift to your child could be lost in a subsequent divorce or as a result of mismanagement by the spouse, giving you cause to be concerned about gifting assets to your child.
  • Mental health issues. Managing an inheritance may be asking too much of an adult child who struggles with mental health issues. Again, you must be honest with yourself when evaluating your child’s ability to handle an inheritance. In addition, if your child has special needs, receiving an inheritance could jeopardize his/her eligibility for much-needed state and federal assistance programs such as Medicaid and SSI.
  • The family spendthrift. You can find one in almost every family, that one family member who simply isn’t good with money no matter how much effort you put into teaching him/her money management skills.

Estate Planning Alternatives

If you do not want to divide your estate equally and gift those assets outright to your children, you may wish to consider using the following estate planning alternatives instead:

  • Letter of Instruction. For a parent, it can be heart-wrenching to think about disinheriting a child. It can be just as upsetting to feel as though the only way you can protect your hard-earned assets will make one of your children feel left out. Fortunately, there are estate planning strategies and tools that may be able to help if you are struggling with the issue of equal gifting.  One of the most important steps to take if you have made the decision not to distribute your estate equally is to explain your decision while you are still here or in a Letter of Instructions that are included in your estate plan. Failing to do so dramatically increases the likelihood of litigation after you are gone. As the name suggests, a Letter of Instructions is simply a document that allows you to explain anything that is not included elsewhere in your estate plan, including providing an explanation for the decision to not leave identical gifts to your children.
  • Trust Agreement. If you are concerned about handing one (or more) of your children a significant sum of money in a lump sum, yet you do not want to leave that child less than you leave your other children, there may be a solution – creating a trust. A trust allows you to appoint a Trustee to manage and invest the assets you transfer into the trust and to oversee the administration of the trust terms. Consequently, you can decide what those assets may be used for and when they can be distributed. Using a trust lets you leave a significant amount of assets to any child, but under the watchful eye of a Trustee and only to be used according to the terms you established.

Contact a Phoenix Estate Planning Attorney

For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have additional questions or concerns about the best way to divide your estate assets among your children, contact an experienced Phoenix estate planning attorney at Morris Hall PLLC by calling 888-222-1328 or 602-249-1328 to schedule your appointment today.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Morris Hall, PLLC
Morris Hall, PLLC
At Morris Hall, we have focused our legal practice on estate planning for over 50 years.  Along with estate planning, our attorneys help clients and their families with matters of probate, trust administration, wills, powers of attorney, business planning, succession planning, legacy planning, charitable gifting, and other important legal aspects.  Our Arizona offices are located in Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Tucson, Prescott, Flagstaff and Arrowhead.  Contact us today at 888.222.1328 to schedule an appointment!

This blog should be used for informational purposes only. It does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader and should not be construed as legal advice. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney in your community who can assess the specifics of your situation.
Morris Hall, PLLC
Latest posts by Morris Hall, PLLC (see all)
  • Estate Planning Tips for Solo Seniors - November 17, 2023
  • Inheritance Planning: Have You Considered Digital Assets? - November 16, 2023
  • Estate Administration: Executor vs. Trustee Roles and Considerations - November 15, 2023
MH logo

Main Office

7600 N 16th St, Ste 105

Phoenix, AZ 85020

Phone: 602-249-1328

Fax: 602-248-2887

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

For a sample Click Here

Offices

Our law firm proudly serves many areas in Arizona. See all of our locations here.

Our law firm proudly serves the state of Arizona.  See all of our locations here.

Toll Free: 888-222-1328

Mon-Thur: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Fri: 8:00am – 4:00pm

(Our offices are closed for lunch between 12pm-1pm daily)

  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Instagram

Need an Estate Planning Lawyer in Arizona?

Looking for an estate planning attorney near you? We have office locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Chandler, Scottsdale, West Valley, Carefree, Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff, Tucson, and Oro Valley in Arizona so please visit us at the location that is closest to you.

  • © 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc All rights reserved.
  • Disclaimer