There are assets it’s good to leave to loved ones, and then there are others –well not-so good. “Let’s face it,” Elaine Silvestrini and David Rodeck point out in Kiplinger, “Certain inheritances can be a tremendous burden on your loved ones.”
“After loved ones pass away, their estates must be collected and managed. No easy task, this,” as Cara Chitenden pointed out in our Geyer Law blog just last year. Estate administration involves gathering property, distributing assets and paying debts, but certain types of assets present special problems.
Timeshares seem to make everyone’s’ worst-assets-to-inherit list. As Silvestrini and Rodeck point out, with contracts lasting for decades, sometimes for life, and ongoing maintenance fees and special assessments, Natasha Chipiga of OCestate lawyers in Florida rates timeshares as one of the four top worst assets to inherit.
Next on most worst-assets-to-inherit lists are operating businesses or partnerships. “A beneficiary may suddenly find themselves a partial owner of a business they know little about, with no experience, authority, or desire to manage it,” Chipiga explains.
Having dealt with Indiana business owners for a quarter century, at Geyer Law we’re all too aware of the importance of business succession planning. We know having business succession planning conversations now can help avoid costly disputes and pain later on. By facilitating in-person or virtual “family conferences” to discuss sensitive business succession matters, our hope is to enable open discussion among future heirs (or to prepare for the transfer of business interests to employees or to outside buyers).
Other “worst assets” mentioned include:
- collectibles
- firearms
- family vacation properties
- houses or real estate properties requiring extensive repairs or that have large mortgages
In general, the worst assets to inherit are those that create:
- immediate financial liabilities
- ongoing maintenance costs
- legal complexities.
New York attorney Neil V. Carbone finds that children are more likely to respect a parent’s wishes if they hear them in-person, even if it’s something they don’t like, versus only hearing the news in a will, when they’re also grieving. For that very reason, while initiating inter-generational discussions can be awkward and emotion-laden, at Geyer Law, we encourage –and facilitate – family conferences to discuss estate planning conversations.
– by Rebecca W. Geyer
