The LEARNING library

It’s Not Fair

“THAT’S NOT FAIR!” How many times have you heard this from your kids as they were growing up? Perhaps you remember screaming it yourself. Even as adults we throw internal temper tantrums to contain our disgust over how unfair the system which is set up to be fair is in fact, not fair.

Perhaps the most obvious example of this would be when a couple divorces. The subjective lines of fair get moved as each person defends their boundary. The more discouraging example would be the divorce of siblings over their parent’s estate. And guess what? It’s not always fair and we would argue, it’s not meant to be.

Each child is different and over the years, parents adjust. They might give more to one while drawing harder boundaries with the other. The type of help they need in the beginning of their life might be different than what they need towards the middle of their life.

Today’s show will discuss the emotional side of estate planning from both the parents and the children’s perspective. We will outline parameters that will help you decide more clearly what is in fact, “fair.”