Inheritance Disputes Law Firm

Inheritance Disputes
With property prices being sky high and constant drifting apart of families, inheritance disputes are bound to occur. If an older person of the family dies, leaving behind a will, involving more than one inheritor, it can be a sight of gruesome inhumanity.
With families opting out of the joint family system and moving into a nuclear family, inheritance disputes are growing by the day. Though death of a closed one should ideally bring a family together in times of grief, we constantly come across families splitting apart due to inheritance disputes. Inheritance disputes result out of no will or an unequal distribution of assets, most of the times. In fact, sometimes it is not even the money that goes into a dispute but the emotions that get hurt due to preference, in the case of an unequal distribution.
Therefore, the best way to avoid inheritance disputes is to assess your wealth and plan the distribution of assets accordingly. You can save your family from the complexities of not only a family feud but its consequences of lawsuits, petitions, attorneys, etc.
If you plan to deal with an inheritance dispute yourself, be prepared to keep it peaceful even if your own people turn against you. Respect the will (if there is one) till the last word. It is not only a legal binding document, but also one that expresses the wish of a deceased relative. If you wish to own an article because of its sentimental value, be ready to compromise a larger share of your inheritance to get that.
But if there is no will to agree upon, it is best to contact an estate or probate litigation lawyer. An attorney will facilitate mediation between the disputed groups and negotiate to reach a conclusion that is mutually acceptable, and if that does not work out the case is then taken to a probate court. A probate court should be the last resort for anyone who doesn’t intend to spend time in the court involved in the confusing procedures and the expense that it incurs.

An inheritance dispute stems out of the greed for wealth but we often forget that in that process we often tend to ignore or lose the most important things in our lives, the bonds of love and affection, the close-knit family ties. Ugly inheritance disputes in many countries including New York cities such as Amsterdam, White Plains, etc have been witnessed.

New York has seen some of the most ugly inheritance disputes, the recent one being of Ms. Brooke Astor where the wealthy socialite and philanthropist left a fortune of $198 million to her son Anthony Marshall in 2007. Anthony was the caretaker of her estate but in 2006 his own son Phillip Marshall accused him of mishandling and mismanaging Astor’s affairs. After her death, the matter was looked into and found out that Anthony was directing funds from Astor’s social mingling into his own account. Therefore, Marshall was recently accused on various charges and is still being tried in court.