A friend of a friend of mine (a man aged 66 years) married a lady some years ago. During the marriage he adopted her two children from a previous relationship. Now, many years later, they are agreeing to a Swiss divorce, and this should not be a problem.

The problem is his earlier own two children have seen their inheritance diluted and are now asking their father to disinherit the two adopted children. My friend thinks even if the two reach maturity, he cannot simply disavow them, and under Swiss law they are entitled to an equal share of his estate.

A very difficult situation, and I am sympathetic to both sets of children.

What a mess!

Maybe I am wrong but can he not simply write a will and he can give what he wants to who he wants?

Legally children are entitled to at least a minimum and adopted children are treated equally to natural children.

You can't "disavow" your children (or parents!) under Swiss law, whether they are biological or adopted children. Adoption is a rather complicated process, intended mainly to make sure the adoptive parent(s) know what they are doing.

There are limited cases where an adoption can be annulled (Art. 269 etc. Swiss Civil Code), but these are truly exceptional cases, and in any case, such cases must be brought no later than two years after the adoption.

As for "diluting out inheritance" - IT'S NOT "THEIR" INHERITANCE UNTIL YOUR FRIEND DIES. But few prople like to hear this.

He is Swiss and his Will would be subject to Swiss law, which is similar to most of Europe's. No he cannot refuse to give part of his wealth to his children. In a normal family, the wife gets 50% and the children share the rest equally. He can give some assets away under a Will, but he cannot favour his children.

I suppose the answer is to give all his wealth now to his first two children, and hope he stays alive long enough, I think it's seven years, before the gift can be contested. He is worth a few million, most of it in property.

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Only if

• the friend is not a Swiss citizen,
• is a citizen of a country that allows children to be cut out of the will completely and denies them a claim to a share of the inheritance on equitable ground as well, and
• chooses that law as the law applicable to his succession in a will (assuming that all his wealth is in Switzerland, not all legal systems offer you that choice - time to sell that bungalow in Spain...).

So he'll be penniless and at the mercy of his "natural" children (I know about usufruct and life estates, but the capital value will be gone forever, or else the "gift" isn't one and can be contested. Excellent choice...

Note to self: do not make such decisions at a time when getting one back at your soon-to-be-ex-spouse is a major influence.

If your friend is British, he can make a Will in which he stipulates that he wishes English law to be applied when administering his Estate. He will be at liberty to do whatever he wishes with his "wordly possessions", including exclusion of certain individuals if he so desires.

Sounds like he should have done a better job with his biological children if they are getting uptight about a 'diluted inheritance'-- though, if he's even remotely considering disavowing his adopted children I can see where the other two got their morals.

Isn't it my decision as to how I manage my assets. So while I am alive, I restructure my assets in such a way that I transfer everything to whoever I want (in this case my 2 children). So eventually, when I die, I have little under my own name and hence doesn't matter how it gets split up.
Is my logic wrong ?

Families, don't you just love 'em?

Not wrong, just going against a legal tradition dating back to Roman law, according to which certain relatives have a claim to at least a portion of your wealth if you die (unless they validly renounced such right). As such, most legal systems that protect close relatives also protect them against avoidance of these rules.

It's either 5 or 10, I can't recall, but you're not allowed to give away your stuff less than a certain number of years before you die.

Tom

You are allowed to do that (not least because you don't know when you're actually going to die), but the donation can be contested after your death (unless those who can contest did approve of the gift, in such way as required by law).

really a difficult situation, it makes you want to become very selfish and spend all your money enjoying life - and thus ensuring family peace.

apart from legal considerations, what is his actual personal relationship to the adopted children? some second husbands or wives develop real feelings for the new partner's children (and vice versa) and actually want them to be heirs their own fortune when the time comes.

it might also be that he would like to keep up his relationship with them because they are near him and can help him now or in his old age maybe better than his own children.
at the same time he feels he feels some maybe unintentional pressure from his own children... I don't know, as a "compromise kind of person" I'm not really favourable to drastic solutions which might unneccessarily hurt people's feelings and come back with a vengenance (unless they deserve it, of course).

Well if he divorces his second wife she won't get any more when he dies. And I think one quarter of a rich dad's wealth is quite enough!

Maybe you already know, that when you die your debts are also passed along to your inheritors...

Yes, but you also refuse the inheritance, a good idea if the debts exceed the assets!

Tom

I can't add anything to the above advice, I've learnt some stuff, but anyone reading this that hasn't yet made a will should do so irrespective of age or relationship status.

Making a will now will make a bunch of stuff clearer to those that are left trying to divide an estate. If kids are involved, one should clearly define who is entitled to what, the state is very good at claiming their chunk if descendants aren't clearly identified in a will. Accountants are cheaper than lawyers if you don't know how to set up your own will.

it certainly would be for me

it can be more than "just" a matter of material assets, though.

I know similar cases in which the new partner has been living with the "adopted" children since they were very small. in this case it is justifiable that they feel deeply betrayed if they have seen in him a substitute father figure.

just saying how it can also be, in your friend's case maybe it's completely different.