[withinboredom]

My Uncle-in-law is literally going through this process right now. There’s literally nothing left for the family despite so much being left to it. It’s mind-blowing how land that has been passed down for generations just goes “poof.” Meanwhile, had the family member known they were going to pass away, they could have just sold the land for a token amount and it wouldn’t have been part of the estate.

[toss1]

And these are two fine examples of why if you have anything at all, you want to put as much of it as possible in a trust. Properly constructed and administered, this will avoid all of the above sort of nonsense related to estate probate processes, properly avoid many taxes and processes, keep it all non-public (probate in inherently public), and greatly reduce the burden on your family/successors. Find a GOOD Trust & Estates attny (not just a rando hanging out a shingle, of which there are many), having an LLM degree in T&E is a good sign. Is not necessarily that expensive, and if you have any significant house equity, etc., and especially that with children, it's a very good idea.

[withinboredom]

After watching it all play out, I’d find it hard to have convinced this person to do that. They grew up in a world where debt wasn’t a thing that could send you to poverty, rather a useful tool. When they inherited the land, there wasn’t much, if any debt. Today, most people have debt as a means of survival vs. a tool. This makes setting up a trust harder in their eyes because they might need the assets for more debt.

No idea how any of this works, just 2am shower thoughts.

[toss1]

Yup, convincing people of how it really works is often an insurmountable obstacle, especially when, as you pointed out, the world has massively changed within a lifetime (heck, even trying to figure out how it all works for ourselves is hard enough)...

[MiddleEndian]

It's cruel, it's slow, and it's a game you don't realize you're playing (until you've done it once I guess, not looking forward to the next time(s)).