Every family is different. In some families, the children are more or less similarly situated in terms of income and family situation. In other families, the children may be in vastly different economic and familial circumstances, and may have dissimilar relationships with their parents.

When creating an estate plan, there is often a propensity to divide a future estate equally among one's children. This is a straightforward way to distribute an estate and may make the most sense for many. In other situations however, a person may want to give an unequal amount of assets to each child based on the circumstances and dynamics of a particular family.

There are many reasons a person may decide to give more money to one child than another through their estate. One child may be financially successful and have no great need for additional assets, while the other child is struggling to make ends meet. Along the same lines, one child may have several children of their own while the other has no plans for beginning a family.

Regardless of the seemingly obvious reasons a person may have for bestowing different amounts to your children, it can cause conflict and even litigation if those reasons are not understood and accepted by the children.

One way that some people have sought to mitigate these types of conflicts, is to draft a letter as an attachment to their will. This letter can explain to your children the reasons for your decision. Of course, a conversation with your children about your decision may be even more effective, but in some cases may not be practical or desirable. Another option for some may be to gift assets to one child while you are still alive and making the estate distribution equally.

One of the purposes of an estate plan is to carry out your wishes after you are gone. Most people intend to treat all of their children fairly, but treating children all fairly may not always mean that each child should receive the exact same amount of assets from your estate.

Source: Wall Street Journal, "Wills: How to Give One Child Less," Rachel Emma Silverman, Sept. 10, 2011