Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
The average person in North America is not inheriting assets, let alone assets from 1812.
Most people don't inherit shit and that is particularly the case for people of a particular socioeconomic status and disproportionately the case for racial and ethnic minorities. So, this topic should be understood and discussed from a range of life experiences and social statuses.
Assets you inherited and assets you made are the same thing if you consider it all your assets. These are all constructed legalities and constructed realities. When I inherit my parents' assets I will do so not because my parents want to keep peace in my family. Instead, as my parents have documented, my parents' goal is to divide their assets however they see fit. In turn, as they have also documented, my siblings and I can handle the assets that we attain as we see fit. That can include keeping the assets separate from our spouses or making legal adjustments to share these assets with our spouses. That includes selling assets and putting the money wherever we see fit. Therefore, these assets that we inherit are not that different from assets that we made ourselves.
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My dad and his fiancee just signed a pre-nup that protects their children from intermixing of inheritances. So, should he die first, his fiancee gets a portion of his (singular) assets but the bulk goes to my brother and I. Should she die first, he gets a portion of her (singular) assets but the bulk goes to her children. This was so that the financial portion of my mother's (singular) assets will not go to some other person's kids, which is all documented in his will, as well.
For example: They currently live in a house that she built and is paid off, while my dad is selling his house. Should she pass away, my dad will find another place to live, while her children will inherit her house. This is all understood from day 1 so it's not a problem that any of us disagree with.
They're both (separately) financially stable though so it's not like she's going to not be able to continue with her standard of living should they break up or should my dad die.
Of course, should they need to sell everything they own and liquidate all of their funds for something, it's not like they need to ask our permission to do that. It's all still theirs right now.
Just giving an example of how a pre-nup isn't always in place just to protect yourself, it can also protect your kids.