Family battles over an estate are not uncommon. While there can be several different reasons for these fights, there are a few reasons that are the most common.
Most of the time, litigation over an estate pits family members against family members. If there is a large sum of money involved, people have many reasons to possibly fight over what they consider to be their fair share. Sometimes these family battles just happen because family members do not get along with each other.
On the other hand, there are some common reasons for these fights as Wealth Management recently listed in “Five Reasons Families Fight over Estates,” including:
•When one sibling lives close to their parents and another lives a great distance away, leaving the sibling who lives closest more assets can lead to disputes.
•If a wealthy person gets remarried later in life and leaves a large portion of the estate to the new spouse, fights between that spouse and children from previous relationships are common.
•Any blended family situation can lead to family battles over estates, if proper plans have not been made.
•When wealthy people leave large sums to a trusted caregiver, then it is likely the family will fight with the caregiver over those assets.
•If the wealthy person has not adequately prepared and drawn up proper estate planning documents, then family fights over the estate are very likely.
Reference: Wealth Management (Jan. 30, 2017) “Five Reasons Families Fight over Estates.”
