Quote from commiebat:
Well now, that depends. Do the children own the family business, or did they simply w**k for it?
People who w**k for a company don't earn the right to own the company. No matter how long they w**k. The cashier at McDonald's doesn't get to keep the company when Ronald dies.
If the children already own the business, they "earned" the right to keep it. If the parents wanted the kids to keep it, they'd have made sure the kids owned it. That's called estate planning.
If the parents own it when they die, they can do what they want with it in their will, but it's no different from anything else they own. Sentimental property is still property.