Mark Keenan, a Partner in our Private Wealth Disputes team has been quoted in The Telegraph regarding the increasing number of wealthy individuals choosing not to leave large inheritances to their children, often to encourage independence or put their money to better use elsewhere.
He commented: “Reasons for disinheriting a child vary – estrangement, financial spats and disagreements over lifestyle choices can be factors – and these disputes are on the increase. Undoubtedly the fact that we have more complicated family dynamics (second and third marriages) does increase the likelihood of disputes.”
Mark also reflected on the shift in approach among some high-net-worth families: “We also see some cases where families of significant wealth prefer not to leave vast fortunes to their children outright or at all and tell them that so that their children are encouraged to find their own way in life. We tend to see this more now perhaps because families have seen and experienced how sudden vast wealth can be a destabilising force for children.”
Mark has previously represented clients in high-profile inheritance cases, including Christine Gill, whose mother’s will left the £2.4 million family farm to the RSPCA. Mark successfully argued that illness had affected her ability to comprehend the will’s contents.
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