Yes, leaving some nominal gift, such as $1, will head off the argument of, “She just forgot to put me in the will!” However, it doesn’t head off the argument of, “You influenced her to cut me out of the will, I’m going to contest it anyway!”
In my book, the better practice is to include some gift that is small but not insubstantial to each party she intends to disinherit, say $1,000. Then, include a no-contest clause in the will, saying that if anyone does contest the will, they forfeit their share to the residue of the estate. Now, the disinherited siblings will have to weigh whether it’s better to contest the will and risk losing that $1,000, or just take what they have and call it good. You need to give them something to lose, basically, or they might as well go ahead and contest the will.
Some states prohibit (or ignore which has the same effect) no-contest clauses as a matter of law based on what they think to be sound public policy. My wife used to prepare lots of wills and used those clauses in the states where they were helpful.
Agree with the basic sentiment that it’s always good to avoid giving the opposition a one-way bet.
Although the probable cost of a failed suit to contest is also a deterrent to the “I have nothing to lose by suing” attitude. Those types of suits are real unlikely to be taken by a plaintiff’s attorney on a contingency basis. He/she is almost certainly gonna want fees up front and regardless of outcome. Unless we’re dealing with a truly huge estate with a million dollar fee opportunity. Which the OP has said we’re not.
Also - Never underestimate the power of sibling rivalry or jealousy overriding common sense. Nothing brings out the inner 5-year-old like a good inheritance fight, and if spending $20,000 of their own money means brother Bobby loses $30,000 in lawyer fees, so be it.
Same advice again - get a real lawyer, get a local lawyer, get them to help make the will as bulletproof as possible.
(I was at the wedding shower of a brother of a girl I was dating many moons ago. Daddy bought the prospective couple a big TV (back when that was a big-ticket item). She whispers to me “A TV!!?? He never bought me anything like that!” We still watched her 20-inch black-and-white in her living room. I had to remind her “Didn’t you say daddy contributed half the down payment to your new car?” Which, obviously, the other siblings never knew.)
Bank accounts can also be assigned beneficiaries, with a pay on death agreement. If there’s a POD, the bank releases the money to the beneficiaries rather than to the estate.
If the estate has no money, the will doesn’t really matter because by the time burial expenses get paid there won’t be anything left to fight over. If there is enough value that someone would find it worthwhile to hire a lawyer to try to get ‘their’ share of the estate, then it’s valuable enough to warrant paying a few hundred dollars to have a lawyer write the will now. Putting tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars at risk to save a few hundred now doesn’t make financial sense, but that’s what you’re doing if you decide to use random message board advice instead of just paying a small fee to a professional who works with the laws of your local area on a daily basis and knows exactly what words need to be in the document to do what you want.
People really misunderstand what a quit claim deed and some even attribute magical powers to it.
There are two common types of deeds: A warranty deed and a quit claim deed.
A warranty deed carries a guarantee with it: I guarantee that I own this property and I am transferring my rights to you. A quit claim deed carries no such guarantee: I may or may not own this property, but whatever rights I do have, I transfer to you.
A quit claim deed is faster and cheaper to execute. Hence it is usually used when the property is being given away or the transaction is being done inside a family. It is also often used when there is some dispute or doubt over the proper ownership of a property in order to clear up the title.
That is a way to avoid probate, but it also has risks associated with it.
For example, if you make your child a co-owner and the child runs into financial problems or gets divorced, the house then becomes fair game for the child’s creditors and the child’s ex-spouse to take. Also as LSLguy points out, you lose the stepped-up basis on death.
Several states now allow “transfer on death” deeds. The current owner has full ownership of the house e during their lifetime and the house reverts to the ownership of the beneficiary at their death, generally avoiding probate. In states where this option is not available, putting the house into a living trust can accomplish much the same thing.
Apparently Alfred Nobel’s relatives were shocked to learn he was setting up the Nobel Prize fund with what they considered “their” inheritance. There was quite a legal fight over it. I just read about it in Sam Kean’s Caesar’s Last Breath.
And this post highlights the point I made earlier: the more involved the OP is in doing the research and “helping” his mother to draft a will that makes him the sole beneficiary, cutting his sibs out, and without Mom getting independent legal advice, the more he’s providing evidence for his sibs about undue influence.
Not meant as legal advice but just to reinforce what I said earlier, and what others are saying: the OP should ensure his Mom goes to a lawyer for legal advice.
There are some things in life which you know has a high chance of getting lawyers involved. It’s so much cheaper to have the attorneys in before the problem arises rather than after. This is one of them.