Prevent Family Conflict: The Importance of a Well-Crafted Will

Family Avoiding Conflict Over Inheritance

Leave Behind a Will or Leave Your Family Fighting

It’s an ugly truth, but few things divide a family like the distribution of a loved one’s possessions. There are a number of reasons for this. Wills Prevent Family Conflict!

Family Divisions Post-Passing

When you die, your family members are grieving and not always thinking clearly. Personal items that you barely ever wore or used suddenly become symbols of your various loved ones’ relationship with you. Unfortunately, your family can end up fighting over who has the right to which of your personal possessions. It can get very petty very fast, and when you die without a will, conflicts over your personal possessions occur more often than we’d like to admit.

Emotional Turmoil and Personal Items

We also live in a society where almost every aspect of our lives requires money. Most of us live near the edge of our means. When you pass and there are financial or property assets left behind, those assets don’t only represent your legacy. For your family members, those assets might represent a long-standing debt paid off, school tuition covered, or financial breathing room. When you die without a will, every one of your family members has some legitimate reason why they need some portion of your financial assets. Without a will stating how you expected those assets to be distributed, there, it’s possible your loved ones will end up in a fight over them. For reasons that have nothing to do with your legacy.

Financial Legacies and Family Needs

I’ve seen this happen in my own family. An uncle and aunt of mine died within a few days of each other as a result of a house fire. It is almost certainly the case they had intended to leave most of their assets to my aunt’s younger sister, but they never executed a will. Because they had no children of their own and no will, the law where they lived split their assets between my aunt’s siblings and my uncle’s siblings.

This created a conflict between the two sides of their family that wasn’t resolved years later. A properly executed will along the lines of, “Everything to aunt’s younger sister,” could have prevented this. Instead, the law dictated an outcome that led to family conflict.

The Role of a Well-Executed Will

Death is an unfortunate but certain fact of life. Wills are not anything new in history and the law doesn’t much care about your wishes if you die without one. If you wanted some of your personal belongings or assets to go to a specific family member, close friend, or maybe even a charity, neither the law nor your fighting family members are likely to see to it that this happens. How would they even know?

The Significance of Wills

Think of a will as insurance. It not only ensures that your legacy is distributed on your terms, it is insurance against that distribution turning into a fight among your loved ones.

A Will as a Safety Net

But it’s important that your will is done right. Your handwritten notes stashed under the mattress will always leave space for your family to fight over whether they truly represented your wishes at death.

Conclusion: Secure Your Legacy

Think about how you would want your assets distributed after death, then work with a lawyer so that you leave behind a will instead of a family argument, because wills prevent family conflict.

Email Roberto Alejandro at roberto@alejandrolegal.com to schedule a consultation today.