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How do you reduce sibling conflict over your will?

On Behalf of | Jan 25, 2023 | Estate Planning |

Conflict over wills have happened throughout history to many different families. These arguments even have the power to tear families apart.

So how can you prevent this from happening with your own will?

What causes friction?

Forbes discusses ways of reducing friction over a will. First of all, it is important to understand the main causes of friction.

In most cases, misunderstandings lie at the root of the conflict. Someone might believe that a parent’s reason for making a certain decision happened due to favoritism. Someone might feel that they have gotten less than they deserve.

How can you reduce it?

Thus, the best way to reduce the possibility of conflict is by having an open conversation about your will-making decisions while you are still alive to do so.

Do not thrust the conversation upon people unwittingly, as they need the time to mentally prepare for a relatively dark and unpleasant topic. Instead, consider setting a date and time, usually over a meal to help reduce tensions.

Then, explain things thoroughly and allow room for people to ask questions. In doing so, you can help ease any concerns others may have while simultaneously letting people speak their minds and illuminate things you may not have noticed yourself.

Of course, in some instances, conflicts happen for completely unforeseeable reasons or due to a problem with an individual child that not even discussions can help sort out. However, while these issues are hard to predict and almost impossible to avoid, having discussions can still eliminate the vast majority of misunderstandings and related problems.