Dear Judy,
I know this is unusual, and you haven’t seen this kind of question, but it’s important to me.
Can I refuse to inherit my part of my mother’s estate? She died recently — there are three of us left since one of my brothers died two years ago and our father also is dead.
I don’t want any part of her estate. Is there any way I can avoid getting it?
Mary
Dear Mary,
To answer your interesting (and unique — in my experience at least) question, I consulted a very smart Bethesda, Maryland estate lawyer about how to refuse and inheritance from your mother’s estate. His name is Marc Levine, and here is his reply:
“I’ve seen everything, so this is not that unusual to me. Mary can refuse an inheritance. To do so she files what is called a disclaimer, basically an irrevocable refusal to accept the inheritance.
“Just like you cannot be required to accept a gift, you cannot be required to accept an inheritance. Disclaimers are very technical and the rules must be followed precisely. Each state has its own rules for a disclaimer, and there are other rules related to the gift impact of making a disclaimer. Here are some of the general rules, although rules in his jurisdiction may differ:
1. You cannot make a disclaimer until the person dies;
2. You cannot make a disclaimer over any asset which you have received or taken control over;
3. You cannot revoke a disclaimer;
4. You cannot direct a disclaimer, saying that instead of you, you want it going to another particular person
5. You can disclaim some or all of an inheritance;
6. After the disclaimer you are treated as having predeceased the person you are inheriting from. This means that whoever would have inherited if you had predeceased, now inherits. If the mother’s Will said that Mary got 25%, but if she predeceased her her share goes to his children, then if she disclaims, her share goes to his children and he cannot alter that. If Mary’s mother’s Will said that Mary got 25%, but she predeceased her, then her share goes to his other three living siblings, and she cannot alter that.
7. A qualified disclaimer is not a gift of the inheritance to the people who end up inheriting.
8. A non-qualified disclaimer is a gift, and gift tax and transfer rules apply.
“So not only is this fairly common, there are very specific rules governing it.
“Mary should see a lawyer.
Marc
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 9:30 am and is filed under Advice.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I wonder why Mary wants nothing from her mother’s estate. Sounds to me like there are serious and troubling emotional issues involved. In which case, wouldn’t she like to use cash from the estate for a lot of personal therapy? Which would help her overcome her obvious problems with inheritance?
Yo, Mary, can i get your share? Women! Honestly…
Yes, there seems to be some desire on Mary’s part to distance herself from memories of her mother — and therefore from her share of the inheritance. But I’m not about to suggest that she get counseling or therapy. For all I know, she’s already had that — in fact a rejection of an inheritance may be the direct result of that counseling. Mary’s only interest was to pursue legal means of disassociating herself even further from a parent, and that’s what I — and Marc Levine — sought to provide.
The rest of it, especially the psychological rest of it, is her business. And her business only.
Give it to a worthy charity…there are many to choose from. Problem solved.