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It always burns me that there's this assumption in society that children are somehow entitled to get something from their parents when the parents die. We see this in those who think it's ok to skirt around the medicare/medicaid rules to put the parent on state assistance so the kids “get their inheritance.” Everybody’s got their hand out. My parents have a trust which includes properties in several states and I assume an amount of cash. I told them years ago that it's THEIR money and their stuff, they should do what they want with it, leave it to whomever they want, divide it up how they see fit. My BIL and I tied into it over the care of his mom, because he came right out and said we needed to ration her end of life care so there was "as much left over at the end as possible.” Guess who felt entitled to her money? My attitude was that if she spent her last dime the day she drew her last breath, that was a win, because we wouldn't have to resort to a government-run facility, and she would get great quality care during her last years. We won that one. I've got a coworker who is pissed at her now-departed FIL because (gasp) he left more money to HER children than he did to her. And bless her heart, she'd been counting on that money from him to take some vacation or other. So she begrudges the gift given her own children. Unbelieveable the greed and sense of entitlement.

OK, I'll crawl down off my soapbox and go on about my business.

You are right. Before my husband died in 06, we had been talking about going on a train trip through the NW Parks. He made our daughter promise to go with me. Well, the next year, I talked with her, my grandson, and granddaughter. I told them we could either spend that money which had been set aside for that on the trip or they could have it when I died. Well, all 3 voted for the trip. Best decision of our lives. We went from Seattle to Jackson Hole. Saw scenes that they still talk about and my grandson loved the fact that he celebrated his 21st bd on the train. They sold the company the next year so we are so blessed that we went when we did.

There might be an assumption in society that children are somehow entitled to get something from their parents when their parents die, but there is actually an encouragement in the Bible that instructs believers to leave an inheritance for their children.