How to Avoid Family Arguments Regarding Your Will

It’s always a very stressful situation when a family member passes away. The normal stress and grief that comes with losing someone who you were close to can be compounded with the stress of distributing that person’s assets and determining who will receive which pieces of property. If you come from a big family, or the deceased family member was quite wealthy, this can often result in arguments over who deserves what or the fairness of splitting finances. While this is a terribly stressful situation, there are things you can do to avoid it. Here are some tips for avoiding family squabbles while making your will.

Talk to your family members about your plans beforehand.
If your family members are surprised about the contents of your will upon your passing, they are going to be much more likely to get upset. Surprises often bring out the worst in people, but you can avoid this problem by talking to those affected by your will when you write it, particularly if there is something that you think will be a source of contention among your family members. If you can, talk to each one alone individually to avoid any arguments while you are having this serious talk.

Update your will regularly.
A very important thing to do to avoid conflicts among your family is to keep your will updated any time things change among your family members. If you forget to update your will after new births and deaths, or even various other financial events such as job changes or investments, this can have a negative effect on your will and the way it is distributed. Updating your will is very easy to do and can make a big difference in the way it is interpreted, even if you are just making small changes.

Give reasons why.
Often, the main issue that families struggle with during a will reading is trying to figure out why certain things may have been left to certain people. For example, if you leave money to a friend or someone else in your life that your family did not realize you were close to, they are likely to be confused. You can head off this confusion by explaining your choices to them in person, or you can leave a note with your will explaining the reasoning that they can read upon your passing. If your family knows why you made the choices you did, they will be much more likely to respect them.

Know that equality is important.
The most common fight regarding wills occurs when some children or family members receive more money than others. This can cause long-standing rifts among families, which is something you probably want to avoid. Most people do choose to leave equal amounts of money and property to their children, but if you have a reason for not doing so, be sure to let them know why and compensate them in some other way if you can. For example, if a certain child is not good with money management, you may choose to leave them a greater amount of property than their siblings.

Seek the advice of a lawyer.
Lawyers are always helpful tools when it comes to creating your will. Even if you feel like you can create a will by yourself online, it still helps to talk to a lawyer when drafting up the documents to make sure that everything is legal. A lawyer can point out potential conflicts that you may not have noticed previously. Just be sure to maintain an independent relationship with your lawyer, because if your spouse or children are involved, this can make things more difficult and complicated.