The complete guide for managing the financial, legal, and emotional issues of inheritances large and small. A death in the family is never easy, but receiving an inheritance, whether expected or not, can leave heirs feeling overwhelmed and even guilty at this change in their fortunes. Ann Perry’s insightful examination of the challenges make managing a bequest a little easier. Combining her practical know-how as a personal finance writer, the expertise of financial advisors, attorneys, and psychologists, and the wisdom gained from her personal inheritance experience, Perry deftly deals with such touchy subjects as selling the family homestead, divvying up property in “blended families,” parceling out heirlooms, dividing a family business, and sharing—or not sharing—an inheritance with a spouse. With refreshing candor, Perry addresses the guilt, grief, and unrealistic fantasies that can keep heirs from making the most of their windfalls, and also explores the unique, even life-changing, opportunities that a bequest can present. An excellent tool for estate planning, as well, this is essential reading for those who are writing their wills as well as those who are remembered in one. The complete guide for managing the financial, legal, and emotional issues of inheritances large and small. A death in the family is never easy, but receiving an inheritance, whether expected or not, can leave heirs feeling overwhelmed and even guilty at this change in their fortunes. Ann Perry's insightful examination of the challenges make managing a bequest a little easier. Combining her practical know-how as a personal finance writer, the expertise of financial advisors, attorneys, and psychologists, and the wisdom gained from her personal inheritance experience, Perry deftly deals with such touchy subjects as selling the family homestead, divvying up property in "blended families," parceling out heirlooms, dividing a family business, and sharing—or not sharing—an inheritance with a spouse. With refreshing candor, Perry addresses the guilt, grief, and unrealistic fantasies that can keep heirs from making the most of their windfalls, and also explores the unique, even life-changing, opportunities that a bequest can present. An excellent tool for estate planning, as well, this is essential reading for those who are writing their wills as well as those who are remembered in one. The complete guide for managing the financial, legal, and emotional issues of inheritances large and small. A death in the family is never easy, but receiving an inheritance, whether expected or not, can leave heirs feeling overwhelmed and even guilty at this change in their fortunes. Ann Perry's insightful examination of the challenges make managing a bequest a little easier. Combining her practical know-how as a personal finance writer, the expertise of financial advisors, attorneys, and psychologists, and the wisdom gained from her personal inheritance experience, Perry deftly deals with such touchy subjects as selling the family homestead, divvying up property in "blended families," parceling out heirlooms, dividing a family business, and sharing--or not sharing--an inheritance with a spouse. With refreshing candor, Perry addresses the guilt, grief, and unrealistic fantasies that can keep heirs from making the most of their windfalls, and also explores the unique, even life-changing, opportunities that a bequest can present. An excellent tool for estate planning, as well, this is essential reading for those who are writing their wills as well as those who are remembered in one. Ann Perry writes a weekly personal financial column for the San Diego Union-Tribune that is syndicated by Copley News Service. She has also written an Internet shopping column for Knight-Ridder newspapers and contributed to many other financial publications. She lives in Encinitas, California, where she can be reached at www.moneyperry@aol.com. Her grandmother popularized the first widely marketed Go Fish card game, helping lay the foundation for Perry’s own inheritance. Chapter 1 The Great Wealth Transfer Money is always there, pockets change. --Gertrude Stein How quickly the time went. We've gone from the Pepsi to the Probate Generation. Remember those television ads inviting us to join a carefree group of beautiful young people romping on the beach? Now we 76 million baby boomers are middle-aged and laden with responsibilities--jobs, mortgages, children, and aging parents. But we are still sought out by advertisers. They know we're coming into a lot of money, the largest transfer of wealth the world has ever seen. Our "great expectations" were first quantified by two Cornell University researchers in 1993. Robert Avery and Michael Rendall estimated that the baby boomers would receive at least $10.4 trillion in inheritances from their parents between 1990 and 2040. This would account for 115 million bequests, according to the study, starting with 900,000 in