How Do I Divide My Estate Among My Children?

Upon your unexpected and unfortunate passing, your hope may be that your surviving spouse will continue caring for your children in every capacity. But if your spouse has predeceased you, or if you are divorced and never remarried, you may feel a greater responsibility to ensure your children are okay even when you are no longer around. This simply underscores the importance of establishing a comprehensive estate plan for your children’s sake. Without the need for further introduction, please continue reading to learn how to divide your estate among your children and how one of the experienced Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC can help you do so fairly and justly.

How do I divide my estate among my children fairly?

If your children are still of a minor age, we may recommend that you establish a relatively straightforward irrevocable trust in their names. Specifically, you may contribute as many assets and funds to this trust throughout your lifetime as you can or please. Then, you may name a trusted adult to step in as your trustee upon your death. Lastly, you may instruct how your trustee is supposed to distribute these assets and funds evenly among your children when they reach a particular milestone.

Namely, you may ask that your minor children not gain access to their trust funds until they reach the adult age of 18 or older. Or until they graduate from college or university, or even until they get married. With this, you may even control whether your children receive these funds in a lump sum payment or in increments over time.

Is it fair to make uneven distributions amongst my children?

Your minor children may be simple enough that an even distribution of your estate is the easiest and most sensible route. However, as they grow older into adulthood, they may grow complexities that deter your comfortability with this method. That is, you must not mistake an “even” split for a “fair” split. With that being said, below are circumstances in which you may be justified in your imbalanced asset distributions:

• One of your children served as your primary caregiver during your elderly age.
• One of your children has a larger ownership share of your business and its assets than the others.
• One of your children received significantly more financial funding from you throughout your lifetime.
• One of your children is notoriously financially irresponsible or has historically denied your financial assistance.
• One of your children is from a previous marriage and can rely on financial support from your former spouse and their new partner.

To ensure you do not go through this critical yet complex process by yourself, please reach out to one of the skilled Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys. Our team at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC is more than happy to serve you.