Do you think that parents owe it to their kids to allow them to inherit the majority of their assets? Or is blood not necessarily thicker than water in this case?
This man is terminally ill, and he anticipates that he has one or two years left on this planet. For the last several years, he has had a personal caregiver, and this woman is truly incredible. He actually credits her with buying him more time.
“Her mom remarried shortly after. My daughter has a really good relationship with her mom and stepdad,” he explained.
“I have a good relationship with my daughter, too, but she lives in the same neighborhood as her mom and stepdad, so she was able to cultivate a closer relationship with them, especially over the past few years.”
“My daughter knows about my terminal illness and is really sad about it, and visits me once or twice a year. I have a lot of estate and investments, and am working with an estate attorney on a revocable living trust.”
He is leaving nearly everything to his caregiver, and she stands to inherit 85% of his assets. As for his daughter, she will get 5%, and her children will have 5% as well to put towards their college educations.
He has certified in writing that he’s not crazy or influenced by his caregiver. He even went so far as to get a doctor to confirm that he’s mentally well and can make this decision for himself.
His lawyer told him that they are doing everything to prevent his will from being challenged after he passes away, as he’s afraid his daughter might try to take this to court when she finds out that she’s not inheriting the majority of his money.
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“The amount of estate I’m leaving behind is life-changing, and I could have theoretically left a lot more behind for my daughter and her kids,” he added.
“But I haven’t really cultivated a relationship with them these past few years. I wish I had. I wish my daughter visited me more often, but she didn’t. For me, the only person who has genuinely been there for these past couple of years has been my caregiver.”
“Traveling with me, having late-night talks, playing board games, she was paid only to be my caregiver, but she has gone out of her way these past 2 years and seems to have a lot of empathy, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen from my daughter.”
In the next several months, he will be disclosing to his daughter how he’s splitting up what he owns, and he’s crossing his fingers that this will not come as a surprise to her, given her lack of interest and involvement in his life.
However, he’s curious if it’s immoral for him not to let his daughter and his grandkids have more of his estate. Years ago, his daughter questioned him about how he was planning to divide everything up, and he responded vaguely.
As for his caregiver? This woman has no idea he’s leaving close to everything to her, and she will only learn this after he’s gone.
Just because you have a biological tie to someone doesn’t automatically mean they’re entitled to the lion’s share of an inheritance, so I think he has every right to give his assets to the one person who cares about him above everyone else.
I don’t agree with him disclosing how he’s dividing up his assets to his daughter, unless he’s trying to use that as leverage to make her spend more time with him before he passes away.
I think it’s best to just not say anything and let his will be a surprise to his daughter after he’s no longer here.
What advice do you have for him?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
