In another real life example of how it pays to be completely clear on who gets what when it comes to passing assets, we have this story from Illinois. This might have been prevented if the father had been more explicit in his wishes, or at least recognized the potential for conflict ahead of time. As it is, it’s another sad example of how (any amount of) money can potentially strain family relations upon the death of the parents.
As an aside, for many years The ACU Foundation used to give away a book called Who Gets Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate?, which focuses on how to go about distributing unique, priceless family heirlooms when there is more than one heir. We have a handful left in our office (I just checked – about 15 copies as of this writing); if you’d like one at no charge, just contact our office. You can also find them through Amazon for about $7 at the link above.