The decision to not have children is one being made by more and more people.
But it does create some end-of-life conundrums.
If you don't have heirs, who do you leave your assets to?
There may be immediate and extended family to consider.
Or maybe friends or even strangers.
Reddit user AgentArnold asked:
"People who don't want kids, who are you going to leave all your money/assets to after you die?"
Siblings...
"My siblings."
Hopefully it will make their lives a bit easier."
"I'm the oldest, and probably the most unhealthy, so I doubt I will outlast them but if I did, I'd want my money to go to someone less fortunate."
~ IWearBones138__
...And the Dog
"Assuming my SO goes before me… I’d leave it to my brothers."
"I’m the middle child but my younger brother is 10 years younger so he should have at least 10 years after me."
"I would prefer to leave it to my dog… maybe I could write a clause that my younger brother has to take my dog and some percentage of the money he spends has to go toward the dog."
"Doggy daycare, baths and spa treatments, treats and toys and everything a dog wants."
Nieces/Nephews
"My nephews/nieces or just donate it to charities."
~ Thick_Engineer3701
"Me too. Gonna put it in a trust for them and make sure they have learned how to manage money. I have 19 and counting because my wife has 11 siblings."
"Whichever nephew or niece(s) have shown the ability to learn and manage money will get the lion's share. I'm not really rich but I'm hoping for a good retirement account."
"As fun as it would be, no hunger games, highlander, battle royal and so on. Definitely no Willy Wonka that was some dark sh*t when you think about it."
"What I am doing is using a trust. This will give me many controls and benefits not available on a will."
"Including protecting my assets from end of life care costs, being able to dictate how they are used and distributed until I sign control over."
"I will be making the hand off before I die. Unless I have an accident, of course."
~ whererebelsare
Cousins
"The closest thing I have to a sibling is my cousin so I’d leave it to them/their kids."
"I want to be the random inheritance from an uncle half way across the country."
~ Korngander
"I have a cousin who is 55 and renting and when she stops working will not be able to afford a rent on the pension."
"I also have a gay nephew in his 20s."
"My health is not great. I reckon I have only a few more years left."
"Both these people live in Sydney in Sydney real estate is so expensive you pay a fortune for absolute sh*t if you can afford anything at all."
"I think I will leave the unit I buy to my nephew with the proviso that my cousin be granted a life tenancy (which means it's solely hers to live in till she dies—it's a, 1 bedroom unit )."
"So my 55-year-old cousin can have a home in her old age, and when she passes away, it automatically reverts back to my nephew who can then move in or sell it or dispose of it as he pleases."
~ c*nticles
Friends
"37, female, unmarried, no kids, no siblings, and therefore no nieces or nephews. My best friend is a selfless woman who has taken in her 3-year-old nephew at 31 and given up her life."
"If it’s an unexpected death, it’s all left to her so she can have the life she deserved."
"If I end up with something terminal where I have notice, a giant party/trip for me and all my closest friends to a ridiculous location where I blow most of it on the most fun we’ve ever all had."
~ MargaritaBarbie
"I'm 64, so that is very much on my mind."
"My best friend is going to be my executor and she is getting most of my things. She has a daughter in her early thirties that she will share it with."
"My two sisters didn't start families either, so I have no nieces or nephews to leave things to."
~ Cetophile
Charities
"The charities that have helped me over my life."
~ H16HP01N7
"Absolutely! A charity called the United Way here in Ontario has helped me so many times over the years."
" Food bank. Employment services. Subsidized therapy. Housing services. Women's shelter. Heartland Forest park. And many more programs that though I didn't need services from, others did."
"We are absolutely leaving our assets and home in trust of the United Way. It's like a bank that smaller charities can tap into for funding."
~ ExplosiveRoomba
Taking It With Me
"Bury it with me, like the pharaohs of old."
"You know the ones I mean."
~ Ok_Ad_9188
Immortality
"Bold of you to assume I will die."
~ pop_tab
"I haven't died yet, so I'm probably immortal."
~ Jumpdeckchair
What Estate?
"Leave something behind?"
"I hope I will be able to afford my funeral."
~ ir_blues
Trust Me
"I’m going to create a trust that pays a bunch of people who hate each other to reunite each year for a skills competition—musical instruments they don’t know, foreign languages, wilderness survival, boxing, etc..."
"They get a 1-year notice of what skill will be tested and then are told a week before where to meet."
~ uvaspina1
Whoever
"Whoever can decipher my treasure map."
~ foxontherox
"That’s what Forrest Fenn did!"
"He made everyone go look for treasure using clues from his book. I guess whoever found it auctioned it off for $1.3 million."
~ AbeLincolns_Ghost
"Five people died looking for the treasure and surely they had wills passing on whatever assets they had, so I guess the whole thing was sort of a cascading shower of money for younger generations."
~ notreallyswiss
"No sh*t, my great uncle buried coffee cans of gold coins all over his property and left a map for us to dig up. (Great Depression messed with his trust of banks.)"
"The adults did the digging at night because they didn't want to alert neighbors or anyone watching about the money just laying all over his massive property."
~ linds360
Planning for death isn't something most people want to face.
But since it's inevitable, we probably should each have a plan.
So what are you going to do?
