Disinheriting one or more of your children is allowed under Kentucky law. You cannot disinherit your spouse, but you can disinherit your kids.
It’s certainly not something to take lightly. Not only could it cause a lot of hurt, but it could also lead to fall-outs between family members, especially if you have multiple children and only disinherit one of them.
Why might you want to disinherit a child?
Some people decide to leave a child nothing because they think they don’t deserve anything. Usually, it comes down to an argument or a parent feeling the child has mistreated them.
Others leave a child nothing because they figure the child does not need it and the assets could better serve someone else. Perhaps one child owns a million-dollar business while the other is a struggling single mother. Or, maybe all the kids are successful, so the parent decides the local dog shelter has more need for their money.
Others fear that more money will only worsen the child’s drug or alcohol problem perhaps hastening their demise, not to mention it being a waste of all that hard-earned cash.
Make your decision clear
If you wish to disinherit someone, don’t just leave them out of your will. Instead, write a note in it to explain you are intentionally leaving them nothing. It prevents the child from claiming that you forgot to include them.
Explaining your choices to your children now can help avoid problems later. You never know, it may give an errant child cause to change their behavior to the point where you want to leave them something. Or, you might discover that the success your child claims to have is all a facade, and they could really do with your financial help. In the cases of children with addictions, you could also leave some money on a trust to incentivize them to treat their problems.
Learning more about your options is wise whatever estate plans you are considering.