Q & A: I'm creating my will. I think my parents will inherit since I have no heirs. Can I put conditions on how they use my estate?

Q: I decided to write my will. I currently have no children, and I am an only child. Does this mean my parents will inherit? They are not good with money, can I make it so that if they do inherit my estate, they have to pay it to my nephews?

A: Congratulations on moving forward with your estate plan. The thing is, a person can have all the intentions in the world of what to do with his or her money, but until those intentions are written down (with the proper formality) they don't mean a thing.

Your questions center on Estate Planning, or wills and trusts. 
1. The will. A will is a set of instructions you want to have followed when you die. At a minimum it should identify a personal representative (formerly called an executor), and identify potential heirs. A will can also indicate specific gifts of money or property, if the testator desires.

2. The heirs. Here's a novel thought: no one knows who might inherit until that will needs to be carried out. For example, in your hypothetical, you mention that your parents are your heirs. Actually, they aren't your heirs -- yet-- since your situation might change before you die. You could adopt a child, get married, or your parents might die.

3. Conditions on gifts. It's understood that you'd like your parents to handle money better. But attaching a condition to a gift in a will will probably not do what you want to have it do. Imagine if you will that you are the parent of a rebellious teenager. She wants to be independent, and claims she is an atheist. You however, are a lifelong Catholic. You want to make sure that she can inherit your estate, but only if she marries someone who's a practicing Catholic.

A court who looks at that will eventually will decide to give the inheritance to the daughter, and ignore the condition attached to it. So in other words the sentence "my daughter to inherit the residue of my estate provided that she marries a practicing Catholic," will be read as "my daughter to inherit the residue of my estate."

So in your situation, it's nice that you want to also provide for your nephews, through your parents. But instead of attaching a condition that will be ignored eventually, why not provide a specific gift to the nephews as well? That would achieve both goals: parents inherit, and nephews inherit =  problem solved.