There have been a few times in my life that I have needed a lawyer, and during those times, their help was invaluable. I worked with lawyers during the custody battle for my kids, when I dissolved the partnership for my business and after I suffered an injury at work. In this blog, I plan to write about the law from a range of angles. I may share posts inspired by my personal experiences, what's popular in the news or what strikes my fancy when I'm writing. I have a daughter, Oliva. I manage a medical clinic, and I love blogging. I hope you like the results. My name is Melinda, and thanks for reading!
If you have decided that you want to leave your assets to your grandchildren rather than to your children when you die, you can do that, but you need to tread forward carefully. There are a number of factors you should keep in mind to ensure you handle this maneuver successfully. Here are some tips to keep in mind:
1. Work with a lawyer who specialises in wills to avoid challenges.
In some cases, if you try to disinherit your children, they may challenge the will, and to ensure their challenges aren't successful, you need to work with a lawyer. Using an expert in will planning and writing makes it more likely that your will will be drafted correctly and relatively impervious to challenges.
2. Consider leaving your children a little bit.
If someone challenges your will, the courts take into account the execution of the will, evidence related to will tampering and other issues related to how well the will is drafted. However, courts also consider whether or not family members are taken care of. If your children are destitute and reliant on the state, the courts may judge in their favour if they contest the will.
In most cases, if you want to disinherit your children and leave the money to your grandchildren, there may be justifiable reasons that you don't want to leave money to your children. However, if you are worried that they may make a claim on your will, you may want to control how much of your assets they take by leaving them just a small amount, just enough so that they don't have to be reliant on the state.
3. Set up a trust for your grandchildren.
Once you have worked with your lawyer to minimise the chances of your will being contested, it's time to figure out how to pass the money to your grandchildren. If your grandchildren are minors and you leave the money to them, it will likely pass into the care of your children. To avoid this, set up a trust for your grandchildren.
This gives you a lot of discretion over when and how the funds are distributed. For example, you could allow the trust to distribute funds to your children to cover special expenses for your grandchildren whilst they are still minors. Additionally, you can set up the trust to release money to your grandchildren slowly as they get older. For example, you could stipulate that your grandchildren receive a certain amount of money each month but that they can also get money for starting a business, going to school or other endeavours.
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