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Original poster

Inheritance one. WWYD?

75 replies

Rewis · 03/07/2021 20:43

This is a what would you do question.

Grandmother passed away recently and while she was alive and getting her affairs in order she had put her life insurance £30k in the name of her 9 grandchildren. However, due to reasons it was changed in the name of her 3 children (reasons made complete sense and was reccomended by solicitor, insurance company etc. so it's all legit). She had let her children know non-directly that it has been intended for grandchildren but the children can do how they see fit.

Basically now all her children are getting £10k and they are discussing what they are doing with it. What would you do? Divide it equally to 9? The parent dividing equally to their kids so then each cousin would get different amount (fam1:3kids,fam2:4kids, fam3: 2kids)? Divide based on need? Something else?

There is no legalities involved in this or anything. I'm one of the grandchildren and I have a clear opion how I would do it. However, I'm keeping my opinion to myself and won't get involved and it will have no effect on any family relations and all is fine. I'm just curious.

OP posts:
Tiramumsu · 03/07/2021 20:46

I would go with her original intention and split it equally between the 9 grandchildren.

Rollerbird · 03/07/2021 20:46

Ideally each grandchild the same. Otherwise each family 10k do as they wish.

HavelockVetinari · 03/07/2021 20:47

Yikes. I dunno - if there are some grandchildren whose parents are much better off than others, then I'd suggest they get the lion's share. £3k to a kid who will be gifted a house deposit is a drop in the ocean, whereas for a kid who will struggle to afford uni/rent/transport it makes a huge difference.

Difficult one though - it's sometimes the richer folk who are the most tight-fisted (luckily not in my family though!).

PicsInRed · 03/07/2021 20:49

How were funeral costs and any residual bills paid? Has the estate been settled and by whom?

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 03/07/2021 20:49

To honour her wishes it should be split 9 ways BUT this is why I think you should leave your money to your children, they can decide how best to give any to their off spring

User5827372728 · 03/07/2021 20:53

10 k to each of her 3 children and then they can decide how to split amongst their children if they so wish

PanamaPattie · 03/07/2021 20:54

Has probate been granted?

Middlesboroughgirl · 03/07/2021 21:04

10k to each child. They give it to their children by splitting it equally between their children. It doesn't matter how many children their siblings chose to have. If A has one child then A's share of their mother's inheritance can ask go to their one child. B should not get a larger inheritance from their mother because they chose to have a big family. They still get 10K to divide between their 5 children, 2k each.

Notaroadrunner · 03/07/2021 21:05

Did the 3 children get anything else besides the 10k each? If they inherited other money/assets then it would be nice if they just split the 30k evenly between the 9 grandchildren. However if the 30k is the entire amount left by grandmother then the 3 children should keep their share and choose if they wish to pass some of it on to their own kids. That's what I'd do, I think.

SwimBaby · 03/07/2021 21:07

10k to the 3 DC and then up to each DC what they do with it.

MadMadMadamMim · 03/07/2021 21:13

£3,333.33 to each grandchild.

User135792468 · 03/07/2021 21:13

Split between 3 children and they can then give it to their respective children. It’s tough as even though grandma had originally divided it between grandchildren, this was changed. The child with 2 children shouldn’t lose their inheritance because their siblings chose to have more children.

Sloaneslone · 03/07/2021 21:15

30k divided equally between all 9.

Which I assume was her intention.

AnneElliott · 03/07/2021 21:15

I think it's up to the children. £10k to each and up to them if they split between their children.

BornIn78 · 03/07/2021 21:21

I don’t understand why she changed her will to leave the money to her children if it was intended for her grandchildren?

But anyway, she gave the instruction for her children to “do how they see fit” which, if that isn’t actually what she meant, is a recipe for discord and resentment.

Honestly - How I, as one of the children would choose to split the money would depend entirely on my own financial situation. If I was skint I wouldn’t be that thrilled to hand over a share of my 10k to a loaded sibling with double the amount of children I had.

MichelleScarn · 03/07/2021 21:21

Why did she change it?

2bazookas · 03/07/2021 21:22

Do as she wished; each of her children gets the same amount. They can then decide how best it will benefit their own children

Doghead · 03/07/2021 21:26

@BornIn78

I don’t understand why she changed her will to leave the money to her children if it was intended for her grandchildren?

But anyway, she gave the instruction for her children to “do how they see fit” which, if that isn’t actually what she meant, is a recipe for discord and resentment.

Honestly - How I, as one of the children would choose to split the money would depend entirely on my own financial situation. If I was skint I wouldn’t be that thrilled to hand over a share of my 10k to a loaded sibling with double the amount of children I had.

She didn't change her will. She changed the beneficiaries of her life insurance......a very different thing.
watingroom2 · 03/07/2021 21:28

Unless you are the family with 2 - children - you have limited right to control of the situation

and even then - cannot dictate what the other people do

PicsInRed · 03/07/2021 21:30

She'll have changed it on advice, as minor children cannot be named beneficiaries of life insurance.

Life insurance won't be dependent on probate where there are named recipients, the life insurance is not part of the estate unless the beneficiary is also the deceased.

Morally speaking, however, whoever's paid for the funeral (and any associated bills) should be reimbursed by the other siblings before any monies are distributed to grandchildren.

BornIn78 · 03/07/2021 21:31

She didn't change her will. She changed the beneficiaries of her life insurance......a very different thing

All much of a muchness. Solicitors were involved, if she intended it to be split equally between the grandchildren she should have wrapped that up legally.

Disfordarkchocolate · 03/07/2021 21:33

Nine equal shares is most in line with her intentions so I would go with that.

HappyDaysToCome · 03/07/2021 21:36

@Notaroadrunner

Did the 3 children get anything else besides the 10k each? If they inherited other money/assets then it would be nice if they just split the 30k evenly between the 9 grandchildren. However if the 30k is the entire amount left by grandmother then the 3 children should keep their share and choose if they wish to pass some of it on to their own kids. That's what I'd do, I think.
I agree with this.
TheFoundations · 03/07/2021 21:43

Would the grandchildren have all received the same amount if the life insurance policy had been (allowed to be) in their names? If so, that's how it needs to be split now, as that was her intention.

Heyyeahyouwiththesadface · 03/07/2021 21:50

Split between grandchildren equally otherwise the children with more siblings get less & it isn’t their fault their parents had more children than fam 3.