An article in the on-line Wealth Counsel Quarterly asks why families fight over inheritances and offers several reasons:
- people are genetically inclined to competition and conflict
- receiving an inheritance is somehow a mark of approval, which many seek even from deceased parents
- people are inclined to look for evidence that they have been excluded, and don’t like it
- the loss of a family member triggers anxiety about one’s own death
- some family members may suffer from a personality disorder that escalates family rivalries into legal battles
Another explanation that I have seen: the death of the last parent means there is no longer a grownup in the room, so the kids can misbehave and get away with it. Many estate disputes reflect feelings that go back to childhood, that one child was favored over another. Or, as Tom Smothers would say to his brother- “Mom always liked you best!”
