Family Conflict over Inheritance of Property

Sibling Relationships, Fairness, and Conflict Over Transfer of the Farm

“…He concluded that agreement among family members on rules of fairness was a key factor that enabled a smooth succession. Our study also supports the work by Titus and her colleagues (1979) who found that problems with unfairness resulted when family members used different standards to determine if the inheritance was fair. The importance of this study is that it shows that agreement on rules of fairness and agreement on fairness are separate variables that should not be mistaken for each other.…”

“…The inheritance literature also links unfairness with conflict. In a study of 14 families with disputes over inheritance, Titus and her colleagues (1979) found that perceptions of unfairness were the underlying source of conflict for the younger generation. Rosenblatt and his colleagues (1985) point out that, in a family business, fairness concerns are more intense when members compare themselves with other relatives because status in the family may be involved as well as status at work.…”

Financial Conflicts Facing Late‐Life Remarried Alzheimer’s Disease Caregivers*

“…Older remarried couples establishing a new intimate relationship may not always have or take the opportunity to establish a larger shared sense of family connection with extended family members. It has also been found that blaming a stepparent may be psychologically easier than acknowledging feelings of deliberate neglect or disregard at the hands of one’s natural parents (Titus, Rosenblatt, & Anderson, 1979; Visher & Visher, 1996). Such dynamics between adult stepchildren and remarried parents may make it especially difficult to develop any sense of relational closeness, reciprocity, or trust—the very qualities that are essential to expressions of later life intergenerational obligation and exchange (Rossi & Rossi, 1990; Webster & Herzog, 1995).…”

“You’re saying something by giving things to them:” communication and family inheritance

“…Messages received from past inheritance experiences conveyed meanings that lingered with participants of both non-blended and blended families throughout their lives ''because it literally is the last word'' (Kane 1996, para 4;Titus et al 1979) from their family members. The participants' desire to express the opposite of past negative messages in their own inheritance wishes, and improve subsequent intergenerational inheritance communication, is consistent with sociological literature on ''emotion work '' (Sandstrom et al 2003, p. 222).…”

“…Within families, money is ''a sensitive topic….nothing lays bare feelings or creates bitter acrimony as discussing monetary obligations and expectations'' (Angel 2008, p. 58). We know that lack of, or poor inheritance communication has the potential to create serious negative family outcomes, including conflict and severed relationships (Stum 2000(Stum , 2012Titus et al 1979), that may seriously threaten family survival and continuity of intergenerational ties. However, the topic of communication and family inheritance remains under studied.…”