what do put in will

rexel

what would put in will if you want to give your children equal share but one adult child has little regard for money

seven-day-weekend

I know someone who put his money equally between his two daughters, but one outright and one in trust (so that the recipient had to ask the trustee if she wanted any). This was because he felt the one daughter would be unwise with the money.

This just served to cause ill-feeling between the two sisters.

Either leave it them both outright, or both in trust.

pmlindyloo

rexel wrote: »

what would put in will if you want to give your children equal share but one adult child has little regard for money

What do you want to achieve?

You may not think you can change how your 'child' regards money now but who knows what will happen to any of your children in the future.

Even the other children may become 'spendthrifts' or marry someone who is.

In the end, putting it bluntly, you won't know what happens to your money.

The only way you can be sure is to tie it up in trusts so someone else can make the decisions.

I think you may be over thinking this.

And I agree, either do the same for all of them or die knowing that you are likely to have split up your family.

Or, leave it to a charity and you can go in peace knowing that your family will not have good memories of you.

Sorry to be so blunt but have seen wills causing huge rifts which have never healed.

suki1964

Why leave anything to anyone?

We help the kids out when we can , and we live a life

I'm certainly not stashing it away to pass on in when we die

Even our house will be sold to fund our old age. Hopefully we will have enough put aside to bury us and that's it

G3.

rexel wrote: »

what would put in will if you want to give your children equal share but one adult child has little regard for money

Assuming they haven't got some "disability" and are just clueless when it comes to money, I wouldn't treat them any different from their siblings. If they want to (text removed by MSE Forum Team) their inheritance up the wall, it's their problem.

theoretica

Does the person with little regard for money want help with it or are they happy how they are?

I assume 'little regard' means it flows through the fingers rather than not liking getting it.

cloudydays

Treat them alike, it's up to them how they spend their inheritance.

itsanne

As above, treat them equally. Different treatment in my family caused friction which had a knock-on effect generations later.

You won't be there to be frustrated by how the money is spent and anything else will cause problems in the relationship between your children, which presumably you won't want to happen.

theoretica

cloudydays wrote: »

Treat them alike

itsanne wrote: »

As above, treat them equally.

Treating equally is not, of course, always treating alike. (Your brother wanted a bike for Christmas so I got you one too... Alike but not necessarily equal.)

There are situations where one child will be happy to be treated differently from the other, and for instance might welcome the security of a regular income rather than a lump sum. But very few people would be happy about this if it were imposed rather than discussed first.

cbrown372

Your kids could be in their 70s before they inherit and you might have spent all your money

Primrose

You could have a conversation with the spendthrift child , tell them of your concerns about their inability to handle money responsibly and that this may influence your decision on how your Will is drafted. It's entirely up to you whether you leave the legacy to one child outright and the other in trust. Just avoid like the plague nominating the responsible child as a trustee. Keep them entirely out of it and nominate independent trustees. This may not stop the irresponsible child feeling resentful at being treated differently perhaps, but at least the thrifty child is protected from ongoing arguments. Your children presumably are both adults and have to take responsibility for their own financial behaviour.

As long as the legacies are of equal amounts, i think the main question of financial fairness will have been addressed.