[WSBAPT] inheritance restricted to blood line

Fri Jul 31 12:17:44 PDT 2020

Thank you everyone for your comments.  I am glad to see I am not the only one who finds it objectionable.  Now I’ll have to do some serious thinking about whether I want to help them or not.

Krista J. MacLaren
Attorney at Law
Northgate Executive Center II
9725 3rd Ave NE, Suite 600
Seattle WA 98115
(206) 523-6116
kjm.inc at icloud.com

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> On Jul 31, 2020, at 11:59 AM, Eric Nelsen <Eric at sayrelawoffices.com> wrote:
> 
> I have dealt with the situation before and there is no easy way to accomplish it. The method I finally settled on was an LLC with some very tightly constructed constraints on membership, and a highly detailed and unusual disconnection between ownership and control. (I would offer the provisions but they are so specific and detailed I don't think they would be translatable to another circumstance. And I really don't recommend the model—I think your gut dislike of this arrangement is correct.)
>  
> The arrangement they are trying to set up is difficult precisely because it is absolutely prohibited under American law – what they are asking for is an entailed estate, "O to A and the heirs of A's body." American law has developed specifically to allow free alienation of real property and prohibit restricting title to a bloodline. The effort to exclude an adopted child makes this even harder, as the law of adoption is arranged to treat adopted kids exactly the same as bloodline kids. So they have to recognize that they are "swimming upstream" against centuries of precedent and property arrangements.
>  
> If they want their children to have the property, they should consider the need to respect their children's decisions to manage their own property and their own families. The effort to continue to control property after one's death is also heavily discouraged under American law; the "dead hand" of the previous generation should not control the living. They cannot possibly know the situations that might arise in future, and it is not helpful to their children to spend a lot of energy dictating arrangements that could easily become impossible burdens due to unforeseen circumstances. Best to give the property to their kids and let them handle it as they see fit. Ultimately, the kids have to be trusted, because the parents will be dead.
>  
> Their kids might not feel the same way about the property. It is their own emotional attachment they are trying to preserve. They should recognize and let go of that; their kids will handle it from there.
>  
> Even if they set up the LLC the way they want, after they're gone their kids can amend its provisions to do as they see fit. So all they can do is disinherit their adopted grandchildren and force their children to deal with the emotional and relational fallout. They need to weigh their desire to exclude adopted grandkids against the very real likelihood of shattering the family over a hunk of dirt.
>  
> Sincerely,
>  
> Eric
>  
> Eric C. Nelsen
> Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
> 1417 31st Ave South
> Seattle WA 98144-3909
> 206-625-0092
> eric at sayrelawoffices.com <mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>
>  
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>  
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>  
> From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Krista MacLaren
> Sent: Friday, July 31, 2020 11:10 AM
> To: wsba probate & trust <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
> Subject: [WSBAPT] inheritance restricted to blood line
>  
> I have clients who own a cabin in the san juans and wants it to go to their adult kids upon their deaths, but they also want to keep it in their “blood line” - essentially they don’t want one of their son’s adopted children to receive an interest in it.  Setting my own feelings aside, I am having trouble with how or if one can really achieve this without the express cooperation of their son.  An LLC with an operating agreement that prohibits certain people from becoming members?  They are not trying to prevent those grandkids from using the property, they just don’t want it to wind up leaving the family through the adopted grandchildren, or eventually being shared with foreign descendants unknown to the blood relations.  A life estate in the kids and then vesting in the other son’s biological children once they are adults?  I find this request somewhat repugnant and also do not know the best way to achieve it.  
>  
> Thank you for any suggestions.
>  
> Krista
>  
> Krista J. MacLaren
> Attorney at Law
> Northgate Executive Center II
> 9725 3rd Ave NE, Suite 600
> Seattle WA 98115
> (206) 523-6116
> kjm.inc at icloud.com <mailto:kjm.inc at icloud.com>
> 
> Please note, as with most email providers, Mac does not encrypt email messages. Accordingly, the confidentiality of messages sent to this address cannot be assured. This e-mail is intended for viewing only by the individual or entity to whom its content is addressed, and it may contain confidential or privileged information. If you received this email in error, please honor the privacy of the intended recipient: reply to the sender regarding the error and delete the message.
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