How To Leave It To Kids: Part 2 of 8 - The Outright Bequest

An outright bequest of an inheritance to a child, grandchild, or other loved one is the most common and most traditional form of a bequest to a child or other loved one.

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The reasons people choose to make an outright bequest, instead of one of the other vehicles to leave your estate to heirs, includes its simplicity, the feeling that you're ok with your heirs doing "whatever they want" with the inheritance, while others state that they will leave a simple outright bequest to the heirs because. "I'll be gone and it won't matter to me what happens to the inheritance after I leave it to them."

Some of the consequences of an outright bequest include the fact that it is easy to commingle an outright bequest with other assets the inheritor has with their spouse, so that if the recipient of the inheritance subsequently gets divorced, they may have to split their inheritance with your ex-in-law.

When a minor (in , younger than 18 years old) inherits outright, it will likely be a legal mess. Minors can't inherit outright, so the inheritance must go through the courts. Judges must appoint an adult to oversee the inheritance for the minor, and a judge must approve expenditures for the minor. When the minor reaches 18, the courts no longer supervise the minor's inheritance and it gets dumped into the lap of the former minor child. Don't arrange your estate plan so that a minor inherits outright.

Even if you are leaving an inheritance to an adult (someone 18 or older in ), if they are not financially responsible enough to handle it the right way, they may blow it, and you will, perhaps, have done more harm than good.

And if your heir is disabled and receiving certain government benefits, an outright bequest could cause the heir to lose the government benefits.

While an outright bequest is both common and traditional, make sure you educate yourself about the alternative ways you can leave an inheritance that may provide more protections than an outright bequest.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Rabalais Estate Planning, LLC, through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship.

Paul Rabalais

Estate Planning Attorney

www.RabalaisEstatePlanning.com

Phone: (225) 329-2450

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