Inheritance split - how to split when siblings have different numbers of children

[Benja1405]

Divorced parent died - two married sons in will, one has 3 children and one has 2. What do you feel is the fairest way for the estate to be split? Lawyer thought straight 50/50 between the two sons. Son with 3 children thinks 55/45 in his favour is fairer as he has more children. AIBU to think that this is unfair on the other son? Just interested in views, thanks.

@dumdumduuuummmmm
OMG. total brain fade. Cannot believe I can't do Yr1 maths. I am hanging my head in shame

Why is everyone saying it's a 5% difference. It's a 10% difference

It's not though. If one sibling gets 45% and the other gets 55%, the first one gets £45 for every £55 the second one gets, i.e. the seond is getting £10 more on every £45, which is 22% more.

If you look at the point of view of the second (£55 one), the first one is getting 18% less.

When my mum died she left just £6000. There was no will. My sister had two children, I had 1 child and my brother was childless. My sister thought that we should all get £1000 each as my mum would have wanted the grandchildren to have something. It took me ages to make her realise that this would not be fair on my brother. She would get £3000 I would get £2000 whatever happened and he would get £1000. Eventually she reluctantly agreed on £2000 each. You are always better making things very clear in your will.

I have 2 children my brother has no children. When my Dad dies we will inherit 50/50. When DH parent's die we have 2 children, sister has 1 and brother has none, they will inherit 3 way split. This is fair.

50/50 between sons. Crazy to think otherwise.

50/50 to the sons. It's their choice how many children they have and no one should be penalised for having less children.

exactly this. no debate from me - just this.

Was there no will? Normally it would go to the offspring equally, unless one or more had died leaving children behind who would reasonably be expected to inherit their decesaed parent's share. If there is a will, of course special behests could be made in it for anyone, including x% to each named grandchild. I don't know the age of the people involved but in many cases it's possible one of the sons might have other children after the parent dies; if you believe an equal share should go to each grandchild, how do you account for them? Much better to solit between the children as the deceased won't be having any more after death.

Depends on how to divvy it up.

if it’s for the children then 50/50 and let them decide. If it’s for the grandkids then split it 5 ways,

if you want to control how much the GK get then split it 7 ways

If there's no bypass then an equal split between direct children.

MIL and Stepfather died.
Stepfather had a son. MIL had two children.
Split was 1/3 each (adult ) child.

Exactly!

Sorry, forgot to add.
One child had no children. One child had two children. One child had four.

Each direct child could do what they wished . Children who had children made deed of variances to pass on a sum of money.

50/50 as it’s going to the sons

if it we’re going directly to the grandchildren Id understand giving 20% to each of the five of them, but it’s not.

50:50. Inheritance isn't a fecundity competition. The 2 children will probably be different in other ways like earning potential, addiction issues, ill health issues the list is endless. Giving them an equal amount is the usual legal principle.

The son with 3 kids is a moron.

I posted a thread (which to my mind feels similar) a while back and was lambasted for being unreasonable by most who replied. I am the one with no children (and not through choice)

I have one brother who has 2 children.

The will is split:

⅓ to me
⅓ to my brother
⅓ shared to his (nearly adult) children

Yes, the ⅓ is going directly to him, but let's be honest...if it had been split 50:50 between me and him, he would have helped his sons out, so he is basically much better off. His family unit is getting double what I am.

The majority of the responses I have seen to this thread say the number of children you have shouldn't affect the inheritance share, and the fairest way is an equal split between siblings, and they they decide who to help the grandchildren.

I'm just wondering why the responses are so much different to this thread.

I'm not going to do anything about it, but it is eating me up inside that it feels unfair. I hate myself for feeling this way. Logically I shouldn't resent my nephews being helped financially (but at my expense....) Am I being unreasonable?

It should be clear from the Will.

In the UK, if there is no Will, the laws of intestacy apply:

"The estate is shared equally between the children or their descendants.
If a son or daughter has died before the deceased died, their children will inherit in their place."

So it would be 50:50 between the children, or 50:50 between one son and the other son's children. The children don't get different proportions because one has more children than the other. What if one had no children?

Can't edit out the annoying autocorrect which totally changes the meaning of one sentence above.

It should read:

Yes, the ⅓ is going directly to him them (his children), but let's be honest...if it had been split 50:50 between me and him, he would have helped his sons out, so he is basically much better off. His family unit is getting double what I am.

Your situation is different though as the will sets out direct bequests to you, your brother and to the grandchildren.

What about step children?

Split equally between the children and the grandkids get a nominal amount (£500?) each. That way the grandkids each get an equal amount and so do the kids. No reason for complaining.