What would you do if someone wanted their inheritance prematurely?

What woudl you do if someone wanted their inheritence now?

  • comply

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • ignore them and make no changes to your will

    Votes: 5 38.5%

  • ignore them and write them out of your will

    Votes: 7 53.8%
  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .
I like to give my kids money when I perceive a need, not that they would ever ask me for it.
 

I will be doing well if I do not become a financial burden to our kids. They are both doing far better than I ever did.
























"A destitute snake hasn't got a pit to hiss in".
 
Although I do have a life insurance policy that will leave them each a bit of cash after expenses are taken care of, the only thing I have given them now is the material things they wanted when we downsized to a smaller place. I know alot of people wait until they die to give children these kinds of things....but my thoughts are if I'm not using these things anymore and they want them...then it is nice to be able to see them enjoying those things while I am alive. My kids all do well financially...much better than we ever did so I couldn't really be much help to them in that area and I think if I was able to help them that way....I would have to think about why they want it before I could make a decision for or against something like that.
 

I couldn't vote but I would ignore them and make no changes but I'd sleep with one eye open.
 
I had a friend years ago who was furious at her mother because mom sold her house and was moving and this gal thought she should get her inheritance right then and there from the sale of the home. Man, I never understood the thought process to that one.
 
I sat down last night and seriously thought about this. My conclusion was that I should pass out the inheritance right now while I can still enjoy seeing the joy on my descendant's faces when they get their money. It was fairly easy......My daughter gets the quarters and 1/3 of the pocket lint, my granddaughter gets the dimes and the fuzzy breathmint and my great-granddaughter gets the nickels and the pretty little piece of gravel I've been carrying around in the bottom of my purse. The rest of relatives can divide up the pennies and the rest of the pocket lint. I feel so much lighter and easier in my mind now.
 
This brings up a memory of my older brother when my Mom passed away and we had to give her house to the nursing home she lived in for the last 4yrs of her life. My Brother was furious and said that the house was our inheritance. I told him that my Parents didn't owe us an inheritance. They took care of all of us when they were here. When my brother got out of the army he and his wife lived with my parents for 5yrs to save for his own home. He had 2 children when living there and my Parents never took a dime from him. Years later I lived there while my Husband was in the Navy. When my sister married she also lived there until she saved up for her own place. I will never understand my brothers view on things. He passed away a year ago and left everything to one of his children and nothing to the other 2. Strange !
 
911 said:
Initially, I would be pissed, but if they had a good, no, very good reason, then maybe I would consider.
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I would probably do that. HOWEVER, I would make them sign a paper that says exactly what they are getting and why and that they have given up the right to any further claims on the estate. Make sure this is witnessed and notarized!! Family is family but this is business. My aunt did this with one of her, two children.

We have outstanding loans to two sons and I expect those to be subtracted from their share, should anything happen to us before the loans get paid back. There was a Q&A about that in the newspaper on how to do that, which I cut out and pasted in THE BOOK (binder with all our info) for the executor.
 
There's no guarantee of inheritance--an illness or an accident could wipe out everything I have. It is possible to "gift" up to a certain amount, I think it's up to $14,000 without being taxed. No. You know, asking for an inheritance would probably not sit well with me. If there was some absolute dire need--like someone needs a kidney or something that serious, we'd have to discuss it--probably in the form of a loan. How can I be certain I won't need it? I didn't get an inheritance and I never, not even once, ever asked either parent for money, and that is as far back as I can remember.
 
My husband's kids would waste the money. If he passes first I will write into the will that they can only receive it in trust, a certain amount each year. They have the maturity of ten-year-olds when it comes to money. Oh, and by the way, they are in their mid forties.
 
I did give my niece her's already, she is putting her daughter through college an I offered it to her. I figured she needed it now more than waiting
till I died. She an her husband don't have a whole lot an they were glad I did. It's helped them a great deal. Guess you have to understand why
before you start handing it out.
 
happytime said:
I did give my niece her's already, she is putting her daughter through college an I offered it to her. I figured she needed it now more than waiting
till I died. She an her husband don't have a whole lot an they were glad I did. It's helped them a great deal. Guess you have to understand why
before you start handing it out.
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That's a very loving thing to do.
 
Interesting question. It's probably too complicated to be able to answer with a simple yes or no.

What do they need the money for? What if it's for medical expenses for a life-threatening disease? It's hard to imagine any parent turning down that request.

If they want it to pay for their children's college educations, that might be legitimate.

But instead of asking for an early "inheritance," it seems much more palatable to me if it's put in terms of a loan, where they will at least make an effort to repay it.

We don't owe our grown children our life savings. There is a good chance that we will need the money ourselves before the game is over.
 
Sunny said:
Interesting question. It's probably too complicated to be able to answer with a simple yes or no.

What do they need the money for? What if it's for medical expenses for a life-threatening disease? It's hard to imagine any parent turning down that request.

If they want it to pay for their children's college educations, that might be legitimate.

But instead of asking for an early "inheritance," it seems much more palatable to me if it's put in terms of a loan, where they will at least make an effort to repay it.

We don't owe our grown children our life savings. There is a good chance that we will need the money ourselves before the game is over.
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I agree with you, especially regarding the fact that we may need it ourselves before we are done.
 
Yes, asking for an early "inheritance" sounds so calculating and cold and vulture-like. And I don't think grown kids realize that what we have saved up is all we are ever going to get, and we'll need it ourselves. They can go out and earn money; most of us don't really have that option anymore. Besides which, we don't owe our kids an inheritance -- it's not like most of us are aristocracy with an an ancestral estate . . .
 
I've toyed with the idea of giving my children part of their inheritance early by offering to fund Roth IRA's for them each year. That's about as far as I would go. I might need the money myself!
 
Actually, it's not money I was referring to. I have a valuable antique (authentic scrimshaw) that a friend saw in my house and greatly admired it. It has the name "Sarah" engraved on it. I told her I would leave it to her in my will. About 2 years after that, she called me one day and asked if I would give it to her now because she wanted to give it as a gift to her daughter. I politely refused, she hung up and we haven't spoken since.

scrim1.jpgscrim2.jpg
 
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