The answer in most cases is NO. You can choose whether or not to include provisions for your grandchildren in your will. It is important that both you and your grandchildren understand that they don’t automatically have legal rights to make a claim against your will, therefore there’s no obligation or responsibility for you to make provisions in your will for any grandchildren.
However, as with any good rule, there are always exceptions.
If you’ve provided financial assistance to a grandchild or grandchildren on a regular, consistent and provable basis, that is directly related to the grandchildren’s health, safety and general well being, then that may give rise to an obligation on your part to make provisions in your will for that grandchild or grandchildren. An example of this might be if your grandchildren’s parents had died at a young age and the grandchildren were left in your care. In this scenario, those grandchildren should be provided for out of your estate, particularly if you were providing for the welfare and direct responsibility of them.
But, if you’ve only been paying things like school fees or giving regular gifts of money to your grandchildren as voluntary support and kindness, this doesn’t mean that you have an obligation to the grandchildren to provide for them.
You should also be aware that on opposite side of the coin, if a grandchild was able to show that they cared for you, then this could constitute a moral obligation on you to provide for that grandchild.
If you would like to discuss whether you should provide for a grandchild in your will give us a call.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article do not constitute legal advice and should not be used as such. Formal legal advice should always be sought in these matters. If you would like to discuss this or any other matter please CONTACT US for an appointment.