Giving grandchildren different amounts of inheritance

Why should the granddaughter with the property be penalised. All wrong. Three way split.

My mother was in a similar position when my sister died, leaving me as the surviving child, but had grandchildren through me and my sister. Only difference is that my nieces didn't inherit anything from their mum.

The legal advice (Scotland) which DM followed, was that my sister's children should have her portion of DM's estate, after other bequests, divided equally among them, e.g. I get 50% and my 4 DNs get 12.5% each. She was also advised to disregard our current financial status, as this will usually change throughout life.

This proved to be true, as I was better off than my sister had been at the time my DM died, but my circumstances changed when my marriage ended and the money was spent on keeping me afloat until I found my feet again. Most of my DNs are currently better off than I am now!

Should add, before my sister died, all the grandchildren were to receive a small fixed sum each, e.g. £1000. But after DSis died, her four DC got their 12.5% each instead while my DC still got £1000. So although they got less than their cousins, it was extremely fair in the circumstances, in my view.

It really doesn’t matter about the ins and outs of the granddaughter’s other inheritance. Im sure she’d rather be penniless and have her mother.

Bottom line is that your friend had 2 children and she should split her estate fairly between them. If she wants to split it between her grandchildren instead then it has to be an equal split between them.

It would be incredibly unfair to her granddaughter to give her less than her cousins.

I assume that the son has suggested skipping a generation so that his children receive at least 2/3 rather than 1/2, so he's already putting his children in an advantageous position with his seemingly altruistic proposal.

In your friend's situation, the only sensible and equitable answer is that 50% goes to her son and 50% to her granddaughter, as it would have if her daughter was still alive.

Because to me it’s not split per family but per person, this way each grandchild gets recognised equally, as does the son, who can then choose what to do with his own inheritance

Equal split. The GD hasn’t got parents, she needs what family she’s got - her cousins - on side.

the perfect solution for all which won’t hurt anyone is 50% to son (who is entitled to 100% if she didn’t say otherwise), and split the remaining 50% equally between the 3 grandchildren.

The son's not entitled to 100 if his mother doesn't say otherwise! The intestate split would be between the deceased's children, so it would be half to the son and half to the daughter, and as the daughter is dead, her share would pass to her own daughter (granddaughter to the deceased).

This. The poor girl only has that money because she lost her mum too young

The son sounds awful.

I'd leave him absolutely nothing and split the rest 3 ways. And let him know his views are vile. I hope the granddaughter doesn't know them.

I’d be tempted to forget to write a will ( would check with a solicitor there were no pit falls to this) then intestate rules would sort it out for me.

If your friend does skip a generation, she should consider explaining why in a letter of wishes and/or give the son a nominal amount. This is to stop him successfully contesting the will as he is a direct beneficiary.

@Darinki the perfect solution for all which won’t hurt anyone is 50% to son (who is entitled to 100% if she didn’t say otherwise), and split the remaining 50% equally between the 3 grandchildren. Then if the son wants to gift his share to his kids that’s up to him. All beneficiaries would consider this a fair split and noone would be hurt. In this case end result would approximate 42% for each of the unhoused grandkids and 16% for wealthy grandkid, without gran having treated them differently.
Also don’t have the dad mention his suggestion of giving up his share, no one needs to know this.

How sad to be facing the end of your life and discovering your son is such a disgusting excuse of a human. I can't believe it's even being questioned... his proposal is outrageously unfair and unkind. What a memory to leave her grand daughter with.

I think either 1/3 each or 1/4 each to grandchildren plus Son. Anything else will cause upset.

Equal share to the grandchildren, and the son is a CF to suggest that his own DC get almost all of the estate.

Also, what legacy does this leave the granddaughter with if she is pretty much left a very small portion of the estate. She’s inherited early because she lost her mum. It’s not always about the money - which many people do not understand - it’s the thought and reasoning behind it that can hurt beyond the grave.

I have no contact with my DM due to her abusive behaviour over my life. An aunt (her DSis) has just told me that another aunt (also their DSis) has cut me out of her Will and is leaving her estate to my 4 cousins only (aunt has never married/had DC). Apparently the reason is that I am NC with my DM (DSis) so she’s decided - and actually voiced this - that she is going to teach me a lesson by cutting me off. Now I’ve never imagined for one minute that I’d ever be in her Will - never even given it a moments thought and she has 3 siblings who one would assume would get her estate - but her apparent reasoning is just yet another stick to beat me with beyond the grave. Never underestimate how shit it can make someone feel.

Son is a greedy, grasping shit bag. Imagine begrudging your dead sister's only child an equal share of her grandmother's money. Fucking hell, I really don't know how some people sleep at night.
Also worth bearing in mind that, depending what part of London she lives in, the GD is unlikely to be living it up in some luxury penthouse/5 bed townhouse. £700k unfortunately gets you very little in some parts of the capital - she could quite easily be in a one bed flat.

This is easy.

She should give each child 50% of her estate. Her granddaughter will get 50%, her son will get 50% to do with as he sees fit.

No way should her son’s kids get more because they were lucky enough not to lose a parent. Ultimately they will still inherit from their father so they won’t be worse of long term.

@Darinki he also wants it to skip a generation because his children would then only receive 25% each and his neice would receive 50%!! he is actually being very sneaky suggesting a miss of generation! she received inheritance from her mum but I am sure she would much rather have had her mum here in her life! I would seriously just not skip the generation and have it 50/50 between him and his late sister's offspring! I am saying this as a grandmother who has lost her daughter. her two children are currently staying in my house. they will share their mother's share of inheritance. their uncle, my son, will get his half, as per normal!

Granddaughter should get at least 1/3 (split equally among grandkids) but when I think about it I'm with the others above that she should ideally get 1/2 (with 50 per cent going to each family, and the family with 2 grandkids sharing the their 50 per cent).

I'd split it evenly between the grandchildren.

I don't think it's fair giving the gd half and the the boys get half between them either.

My gran split her will so that everyone in the family received the same amount, eg her son, dil, and 3 grandchildren . We all received 20%

If she wants to split it between the GC only, split it three ways.

If she wants to split it between "her daughter's side" and "her son's side" split it 50/25/25 to the GC.

Either is fair, she just needs to think about how many people she wants to split it between (whether still alive or not! ) and do that equally.

How is that fair, his family get 75% the DD 25%?

You either split equally between the DGC 33% each or equally between the DC 50% each. With the DGD getting her mothers share.

This

You know a heck of a lot regarding your friends finances 😳

This is a good idea !