One of the easiest ways to split up assets between multiple beneficiaries is to do it equally. This can sometimes make things go smoothly. A parent with $1 million and four adult children may give them all $250,000, for example.
But is this required? It is not. That parent can technically make any decisions they want, and unequal bequests are common tools used to split things up in a way that the parent believes is fair or preferable, even if it is not equal.
For example, say that two of those adult children are very well off financially and do not need any assets. The other two have struggled to make ends meet. The parent could certainly leave more money to the beneficiaries who have a greater need.
Can this cause conflicts?
Yes, one of the problems with unequal bequests is that they often lead to conflicts between beneficiaries. They can even lead to estate challenges or will contests.
For instance, the beneficiaries who received less may claim that the other beneficiaries used undue influence to try to get financial assets for themselves. They could challenge the will on the grounds that their parent would have wanted to split things up equally, but they were manipulated into using unequal bequests. It would be necessary for them to provide evidence of undue influence, so they cannot necessarily just challenge the estate plan because they do not agree with the distribution, but unequal bequests open the door to these types of issues.
Estate planning needs to be done carefully, and it is wise to consider the ramifications of every decision while looking into your legal options regarding how to structure your plan.