We always recommend open discussions within a family about inheritance. It avoids upset and long-term damage in the family left behind. It is quite common for parents to divide up their estates between what they judge to be the haves and the have nots amongst their children. This tends to continue family divisions long after the parents have died. Much better to treat everyone equally whether they are successful in life or not. Parents quite often misjudge their children's perceived success and disinheriting a child very rarely leads to a harmonious relationship in the surviving family.