Do you need to leave someone a token inheritance to disinherit them?

 Posted on December 09, 2025 in Estate Planning

If you decide to disinherit someone, it means you are going to leave them out of your will. They may be a direct relative, like one of your adult children, so they expected to inherit assets from you.

In some cases, parents will simply leave that beneficiary out of the estate plan entirely. If you have three children, you may split your assets 50-50 between two of them and not mention the third child at all.

But this can be risky, because that person may claim that you simply forgot about them. They can then use this as a reason to challenge your estate plan, in some cases. As a result, people may decide to leave a minimal inheritance, like leaving the person just $10, so that it is clear they were not forgotten.

This is not a necessary step

You can do this if you want, but it is not necessary. You do not have to leave them a minimal inheritance or any inheritance at all.

Instead, just focus on making your intentions clear. You may want to include a disinheritance clause in the estate plan. You can directly name the individual that you do not want to receive any of your assets, specifying that nothing should go to them. You can tell them why you have made this decision, but you are not legally obligated to do so. As long as you have the disinheritance clause that names them, it makes it clear that this is what you wanted and it is not a simple oversight.

Estate planning can be complex when it comes to significant assets, disinheriting beneficiaries and taking other such steps. Be sure you understand all of your legal options.