How Do You Keep Things Equal When Kids Owe The Parents Money?

By Mark McLaughlin

We farm 1,100 acres with one son; our two daughters and another son don’t farm. We’ve helped our off-farm son financially a few times, totaling $65,000. We’ve given $35,000 to a daughter. We doubt they’ll pay it back. The other daughter makes subtle comments, and our farming son is upset because it could have gone toward the operation. How can our estate even this out among the kids if the money isn’t paid back?

I Iove to coach my son’s basketball team. At his age, they don’t officially keep score. However, the boys on the team sure do! They count every bucket to know who’s ahead. I’ve seen families do the same thing when it comes to estate distributions.