Legally, yes — in most cases, adult children have no automatic right to inherit, and a parent is generally free to leave their estate to a charity instead. But "can I" and "should I, and how" are different questions, and the second one deserves real thought.
This is often less about disliking your children and more about values — a genuine belief that your children are already financially secure, or a strong conviction about a cause you want to support. That reasoning can be completely legitimate. It still needs to be communicated, not just discovered.
"A values-based decision, explained, tends to be respected. The same decision, discovered as a surprise, tends to be resented — even when the reasoning was sound all along."
What's Worth Thinking Through
Your actual reasoning
Is this about your children's financial security, a cause you deeply believe in, or something else? Getting clear on this helps you explain it later.
A middle path exists
Some people split between charity and family rather than choosing entirely one way — worth considering if the all-or-nothing framing feels too extreme.
Sentimental items separately
Even a fully charitable estate plan can still include specific personal items or heirlooms set aside for family.
Legal contestability
In some circumstances, a will that fully disinherits children can be legally contested — worth discussing directly with an attorney based on your state.
None of this means you owe your children a specific outcome. It means the decision holds up much better, for everyone involved, when it's explained rather than discovered.
It's common for someone with strong charitable convictions to assume their children will simply understand once they see the will. In practice, even a well-reasoned charitable gift can feel like a rejection if it's the first time anyone's hearing about it — and at a moment when the person who could explain it is no longer there to do so.
A Reflection Before You Decide
Check off what's true for you right now. There's no scoring here — just a clearer read on where your thinking actually stands.
What Comes Next
Whether your reasoning already feels clear or you're still working through it, instinct alone isn't quite enough to know how this decision will actually land. The choice itself matters less than whether the people it affects understand why you made it.
That's exactly what the Estate Prep Partners system helps with: clarifying your actual values and reasoning, then giving you a framework for communicating a values-based decision clearly.
Make a values-based decision that's actually understood
The Estate Prep Partners system helps you clarify your reasoning and think through how to communicate a decision like this before it's discovered as a surprise.
Get started — $299 →