Valid reasons for unequal inheritances

Your Michigan home, a bank account or other assets inside of your estate can be divided however you wish after your death. As long as your will or trust are valid, you can provide each of your beneficiaries with as much or as little of your estate as you’d like. In some cases, providing unequal inheritances may be the best way to serve the needs of your surviving loved ones.

Younger beneficiaries may need more

A younger beneficiary may need more money to go to college, buy a home or meet other milestones in upcoming years. This is because prices will almost surely be higher in the future than they are today. You may also decide that instead of giving money directly to a beneficiary that you instead put money into a custodial brokerage account. Doing so may help to ensure that an inheritance can grow faster than inflation over the life of the account.

People handle money differently

A beneficiary who struggles with drug use or mental health issues may not be able to manage money properly. Therefore, it may be a shrewd estate planning move to give the bulk of your estate to someone who can be trusted to manage it on that person’s behalf. You may also choose to completely disinherit a child who makes enough money to live comfortably without any further assistance.

Family dynamics are one of many issues that you’ll need to consider when creating an estate plan. You may want to have a conversation with your loved ones about why you have structured it in a given way.