Although parents typically want to leave equal shares of their estate for their children, there are cases where equal isn’t fair. It’s important to carefully prepare if you want to provide more or less for one child in your estate plan.
There may be a number of reasons a parent would want to leave unequal shares for their children. For example, if one child provides all of the caregiving, a parent may want to leave more for that child. Also, if one child is substantially better off than the other child, their parent may want to provide more for the child in greater need. Other factors can also come into play, such as if one child has special needs, if one wants to run a family business, or if parents have already helped one child more during their lifetime by funding things such as graduate school or the purchase of a house.
It is important that, no matter what your reasons are, that you sit down and have a conversation with your children about these reasons for leaving unequal shares for them and explain your process for making this choice. If you believe this could be a difficult and tense conversation, it may help to hire a mediator to facilitate this discussion.