How To Avoid An Inheritance Battle

July 21, 2011.  How To Avoid An Inheritance Battle (Reuters).  We’ve all read about huge family fortunes squandered in legal battles between siblings after the patriarch or matriarch dies. While most of us wouldn’t make national headlines regarding our estate planning matters, the pain and destruction of inheritance feuds can  be minimized if not totally avoided.  Interestingly, most of these fights aren’t about money.  “What causes inheritance feuds are a few other things — lack of communication mostly by the parents — and [other emotional] stuff,” says Theresa Malmstrom, vice president and senior wealth planner at PNC Wealth Management.  That other emotional stuff includes longstanding sibling rivalry.  Indeed, “if parents can somehow eliminate jealousy among and between siblings, disputes could disappear,” says Michael Dribin, an estate planning attorney at Harper Meyer Perez Hagen O’Connor Albert & Dribin LLP.  “These disputes are often the result of deep-seated issues that go back many years and only reach their climax when mom and dad are no longer around…