Do you think you’re going to get an inheritance from your parents when they pass away? If so, you are in the majority. Studies have found that about 68% of young people think that they will get one — often containing money and physical assets, like a house — at some point in their lives.
Unfortunately, you may not get it. The same studies have found that just 40% of their parents say they actually plan to leave anything to their children. There is clearly a large discrepancy here. While there is bound to be some overlap — children who do not think they’ll get anything and parents who do not plan to leave anything — there are obviously a lot of young people who expect an inheritance and will feel shocked when they do not get one.
In some cases, this is bound to start estate litigation. Why did the parents not have any money to leave them? What did they do with their assets instead? Was the lack of assets for their children really in keeping with their desires and wishes, or were they victimized by fraud? Did anyone else get money from them that a child feels should have been theirs?
These are all important questions to ask, and they are just the tip of the iceberg. If you find yourself with serious questions about your parents’ estate and your own rights to it, you need to know what legal steps you can take. These questions are bound to come up a lot in the next few decades as the reality of estate distribution becomes clear.
