While an inheritance can keep a family stable for many years, it can also send families into turmoil. This is why it’s so important to have an estate plan prepared with the guidance of an experienced estate planning attorney. A recent article from Tri-State Alert, “When it comes to inheritance, a whole lot of unexpected issues can happen,” presents a host of potential problems to be considered.
What happens if children die before parents? Older folks with healthcare issues who understand the importance of planning have set up trusts to protect the family assets. But what happens if one of their adult children doesn’t have a will and dies before the parents? Their estate will be distributed via the state’s laws of intestacy, which could mean their parents inherit the child’s estate. Those assets are now at risk of being used to pay their long-term care bills.
If the child had a will prepared, they could have disinherited their parents to ensure the child’s assets wouldn’t be available to pay the nursing home bill. Not having an estate plan has now put their children’s inheritance at risk for parents’ nursing home bills. An estate planning attorney can prepare a trust to provide for the parent’s support for costs not covered by Medicaid or SSI, like hearing aids or dentures.
Life always throws curveballs. Estate planning protects us from the unexpected.
A similar issue occurs if one child doesn’t have children of their own and has a sibling with a disabled child. If the sibling without children dies first, and then the other sibling dies without a will, the next generation inherits—including the disabled child, who becomes ineligible for means-tested government support programs.
These inadvertent inheritances can foul up benefits. To prevent these and other scenarios, siblings, aunts, uncles, parents, and their circumstances need to be discussed during estate planning. The estate planning attorney isn’t being nosy about your family—they’re looking out for you.
What can you do if a family member isn’t willing to have any estate planning done or participate in your estate planning?
A noncompliant family member’s impact on your estate can be managed, as long as the estate planning attorney has all the information they need to protect you.
It’s common for people to think they must disinherit a disabled child, but this is not correct. Any family with a disabled member should speak with an estate planning attorney about creating a Special Needs Trust so resources are available for the child when needed.
People who try to create workarounds for estate planning without an estate planning attorney’s help run into problems. They don’t anticipate the many different things that can go wrong.
When is the right time for families to be talking with an estate planning attorney? Now.
Dana Ware of Hudson Legacy Law is a premiere Hudson Valley Trust Attorney. If you’re ready to start planning your family’s future, book a consultation with Hudson Legacy Law today.
Reference: Tri-State Alert (June 1, 2026) “When it comes to inheritance, a whole lot of unexpected issues can happen”