$100 Million for a Bride?
In the new movie
The Bachelor
, a character leaves his grandson $100 million
in his will. The catch: To receive his inheritance, the grandson must be
married before his 30 th birthday. Is this sort of restriction legal?
And are there any limits on the conditions one can place on a gift?
Grandpa is well within his rights; conditional gifts to people and
institutions are not uncommon. Although the laws vary from state to state,
judges have generally reasoned that since the beneficiary is free to decline
the gift, such conditions don't violate anyone's rights.
So, wealthy parents are free to put virtually any restriction on their
estates. Inherited money is most frequently contingent upon the recipient's
getting a college education or staying out of legal trouble. But courts have
even upheld parents' right to condition gifts on the heir's abstaining from
smoking or marrying someone of a certain religion or ethnicity. And conditional
gifts to charities--such as the donation of a university building with the
restriction that alcohol not be served on the premises--have long been made.
The courts have made a only few exceptions:
The condition cannot require a violation of the law. This
principle has been used most frequently to prevent beneficiaries from having to
uphold illegal racial restrictions in order to receive property. For instance,
courts have overturned the proviso that donated parkland be available only to
white people.
The condition cannot run counter to "public policy."
Courts vary in their interpretation of this principle but have generally used
it to strike down requirements that prohibit marriage or encourage divorce.
(Most commonly, a man will attempt to leave property to his wife as long as she
never remarries.) It has also been used to repeal requirements that would cause
family strife--for example, the provision that inherited land can only be used
by one side of the family. And it has prevented beneficiaries from being
required to change their religion or name.
The condition cannot last forever. Courts consider it
undesirable for someone to control property or land for hundreds of years after
his death. So in most states, restrictions on private inheritances are limited
to the lifetime of living beneficiaries plus 21 years (conditions on bequests
to charities can often last longer). After this time, the property and decision
rights must be transferred to an individual or group.
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