It's common for folks who are doing estate planning to want to equitably divide things among their beneficiaries. The law doesn't require this, but it's desirable for many estate grantors. Anyone going this route will want to address a handful of key issues so let's look at them.

Retaining Counsel

If you want to be sure that equitable distribution happens, you'll need to have paperwork in place. You should hire an estate planning attorney to make sure you have the right documents in place. Similarly, the lawyer can help you to review the language of your estate to ensure it reflects your desire to distribute assets evenly.

Valuations

To reach something resembling equitability, your estate needs values attached to it. It's wise to have a professional assess the big assets in your estate every few years. You might need to do this more often for assets that have volatile prices, such as certain types of high-risk and -reward real estate investments.

Once you've attached a value to each of the assets, you can start thinking about how to parse things out equitably. You may find that kicking in a little bit of money here and there to make up some gaps can help too.

Administration

You'll want to empower an executor to oversee the distribution of the assets. Likewise, the will should clearly instruct them to think about equity among the beneficiaries. Otherwise, there's a risk that the spirit of that wish will be lost.

For example, the executor might be unavailable, and a named successor or a court-appointed administrator might not be as familiar with your desires for equity. Have an estate planning attorney spell it out in black ink to make sure the administration of your estate is unquestionable.

Selling Assets

Oftentimes, the simplest way to attack this problem is to convert physical assets into liquidity. You don't have to do that now. However, if you want assets sold, you should instruct the executor to do so. They can then distribute the proceeds equitably in accordance with your will.

It's also worth making provisions so someone who wants to own a whole asset can buy it outright. They can front the money needed to make others whole on their shares of the estate, and then the executor will distribute sale proceeds.

Asking

You should also simply ask beneficiaries if they want particular assets. This can clear up confusion or misunderstandings and open a path to a less disputatious process.

Talk to an estate planning attorney for more details.