"I need a sanity check on what I owe to my sister. We are both in our late 30s. She and I grew up comfortably middle class, but not rich. Our parents divorced due to our mother's affair. Mom ended up remarrying her new partner, who was significantly more wealthy. No one ever cut anyone off, but for 10-15 years our relationship with Mom was distant. After her second husband passed away she did make more of an effort to reconnect."
"When Mom's health declined she named me her power of attorney. She had inherited her second husband's entire estate (he never had children of his own), and upon the advice of Mom's lawyer and accountant I used the power of attorney to make large gifts to myself, my sister, and my sister's 8-year old daughter (in a trust) to avoid inheritance taxes."
"After Mom died, I was the executor and divided her remaining estate between myself and my sister per her will. That was two years ago. My sister and I both inherited over $1,000,000, in addition to the $250,000 that was gifted to her and I during Mom's life. The trust for my niece has a bit over $150,000 in it. My sister has recently become pregnant and asked me about "the trust for my second child.""
Both siblings are in their late 30s and grew up middle class. The mother remarried a wealthier partner, and the siblings had a distant relationship with her for 10–15 years. The mother named one sibling as power of attorney when her health declined; that sibling used the POA, on lawyer and accountant advice, to make large gifts to herself, her sister, and a trust for the sister's daughter to avoid inheritance taxes. After the mother's death, the executor divided the remaining estate per the will. Each sibling inherited over $1,000,000 plus earlier gifts; the niece's trust holds about $150,000. The sister is pregnant and requests a similar trust for the second child, but no additional estate funds remain and the sister refuses to equalize using her own inheritance.
Read at Slate Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]