Very sad. My daughter tells me I owe her nothing but she owes me lots.

Very good answers, all. Sorry I didn't clarify that I wondered how YOU are handling this issue. Luckily, I only have 1 daughter.

Thank you for the link. It says you need to say "I leave nothing to my son, George." I will let my friend know. Wonder why the lawyer didn't draw the will up this way? The link said nothing about Florida law.

I have to agree!

If this lady is seeking to disinherit one of her children an experienced Florida estate planning attorney will know how to handle it in Florida. Unfortunately these sorts of difficulties arise all too frequently.

Right, no. But as a parent, why not if all is well.

Sent ours to both sons showing trust.

A will does not disclose how much the estate is worth. It simply directs the distribution of the estate. After all, there might be many changes between the time the will is signed and the time of death

Looks like I disagree with the majority. Well, they may not have a "right" to see the will but I can't imagine why your last wishes would be kept secret. I would not want my last act to cause a rift between my children. When we keep secrets , we cause problems. Best to deal with it when alive. My parents gave each of us copies of their will and we gave copies of our will to our children. Why would you need to keep secrets unless your ere yor really comfortable with what is in your will and know it will cause a problem?

Us too - two children have copies of everything they will need when we pass (which, hopefully, will be a good long time). However, the last thing I want is for them to be trying to find the necessary paperwork to settle our estate. We have a Trust, everything gets divided right down the middle half to this one and half to that one - and that is never going to change.

Unfortunately, we had a nasty spiteful reading of the will when my grandmother passed. She had one child who got absolutely zero, and five grandchildren who each got different amounts. It amazes me that people think they can actually use a will to control matters after they are dead and gone. That will never happen in our family.

No, they don't have a right. They can see it if the parents want them too.

I don't view the wills as secret any more than I do my bank accounts secret.
There are some things that are just not anybody elses business but the owners.

Those who do want to share that is an individual choice. Not one I view as an action of trust or not or secret or not.

Over the years I have been witness to some of the best behaved (what ever that means) families get into nasty dialogue over what was left to whom, etc. Even the ones split down the middle or even distibution is no assurance of all parties being content because there will always be those who figured differently...right or wrong does not seem to matter.

When it comes to cars and homes and other stuff....there will always be the discussion whether to keep or not. And if one or some want the money they want to sell and others may not want to.....

It is complicated and we can all only do what we have done all these years....what we think is best.

I always viewed open discussions before one passes regarding who gets what as sort of ghoulish.

I know of one family that has a second home that the principals want to be kept in the family and not sold. They have a clause that allows the property to be sold and in that event all the procedes will go to the church!!!!!

There is no pleasing all way to do it......just different views of how to do it.

I worked for a wills and estate attorney in NYC. The original, signed and witnessed will went into a vault at the bank, the attorney kept a conformed copy, the person requesting the will got a conformed copy and, if requested by the person, a conformed copy was sent to the executor/trix/administrator. That's it. Once the will was witnessed and signed by all, it becomes a valid will. Anyone making a copy of the original will could ivalidate it simply by removing the staples. It is serious business. If folks are concerned about being taken advantage of, they can have the will reviewed by a trusted third party who has no claim to any part of the estate, In New York State, a person with a claim to an estate cannot witness a will, for obvious reasons. Once wills are submitted for probate (no matter the size of the estate) it becomes a matter of public record. Not all wills are submitted for probate. That said, the will's executor should also know where all the papers relating to the deceased are...burial plot, final wishes, etc. There should also be a Power of Attorney and Living Will done long before it is needed. In a perfect world, all the children should have knowledge of the parents' final wishes. Alas, it is not a perfect world.

My friend went to her lawyer today. The clause was near the beginning of the will, not listed in the part where "who gets what %" is. The lawyer told her not to worry, that she has no obligation to let this child see it.

Glad to hear it got resolved by her obtaining legal guidance from a knowledgable attorney.