How to Handle Inheritance Disputes with Family Members.

A reader has written to Newsweek for advice on how to help her sister-in-law not waste her inheritance. The mother left an inheritance of about $300,000 to be given to each of 5 siblings, but none of it has been distributed yet by the trustees, her sister and brother, because of some legal issues. The reader's brother, one of the trustees, died recently leaving his 70+ year old widow broke because of their spending habits. The reader is seeking advice on how to give the inheritance to her sister-in-law in small installments or set up a legal entity to hold it and give it to her in increments.