Advisory Opinion
A gift made by a person to one of his or her children or heirs (a presumptive heir since an heir is only determined on the date of death) in anticipation of a gift from the still-living parent’s potential estate as an advance on one’s inheritance. example: john richguy is going to leave his son $100,000 under his will or a percentage of the estate on john’s death. john gives the son $50,000 with the intention that it would be deducted from the inheritance. the main problem is one of proof that the advanced sum was against the projected inheritance. a person making an advancement should leave a written statement about the advancement or get a signed receipt. such gifts made shortly before death are more readily treated as an advancement than one made several years earlier.
