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.

50/50. The one demanding 55% for himself on the basis of having three children rather than two is a cheeky, entitled fucker. He needs to be told to bugger off.

What does the will actually say? That will be the crux of it.

Assuming there is no will, there are 2 options. Option 1, is split it 50/50, to go to the 2 sons.

Option 2 is to split it evenly between all desendents, so split 7 ways, the 2 sons and 5 grandchildren get an equal share each, but the grandchildren's shares go to them / in trust until they are 18, not to their dads.

There is no fair option that gives more money to one son over the other with no obligation to give it to his children. If the money is for the grandchildren it should go to them directly. If its for the sons, they don't get extra for having more kids unless the person who died specifically asked for that.

Definitely 50/50 unless the deceased parent specified differently.

50/50, it doesn't matter if one has 5 and the other is single and childless, why should one get more because of the kids? Besides if the deceased wanted it to be split based on grandkids they would have willed it that way and missed the sons out altogether

It depends on whether it is being left to the children or grandchildren directly.

If children, 50/50 split, and if grandchildren, split in fifths.

I think this is the fairest possible way. If being left to children, number of grandchildren is irrelevant really- parents can't be expected to 'keep' the inheritance for their children and so many factors could affect how much the grandchildren eventually receive, if any.

I thi k whatever the parent decided. Either is fine.

50/50

My mum had left hers 50/50 to me & my brother & has left it up to us to give to our dc as my brother has 2 dc & I only have ds. She has always given my ds the same amount in total she gives between my brother's dc so that neither can complain that the other family gets more.

The 55/45 proposal is grabby and unfair. I think it's really unseemly to put the other son in a position of arguing against it. If my sibling suggested it I would say sure, whatever. But they would slip down in my estimation and I don't think I would view them in quite the same light.

50/50 if one son didn't have any children he would still get 50%

50/50

Why should one son be penalised because he has less children.

It’s really up to the person whose money it is to decide their will! Generally 50:50 but there could be reasons why they’d choose something else as being a fairer eg disability, huge disparity in wealth of the children.

whatever the will says, otherwise it will be 50/50

50/50 of course!

Good lord.

He really does have 8!!! They seemed to get the knack and forgot how to prevent pregnancies. To be fair they are really excellent parents and all the kids are very happy, but OMG the organized chaos!

What I posted was not "wrong". I just didn't go into that level of detail because it didn't seem relevant.

However, you are actually wrong - the receiver does not pay the tax. The amount is notionally added back to the estate and the estate pays the tax. Unless the tax due is more than the remaining estate in which case the receiver does pay the inheritance tax (they would have to have given away quite a lot for that to happen and be over the IHT limit).

It's also not exactly seven years, because it's on a sliding scale. It's an issue that comes up on MN quite often and most people don't seem to understand it.

You also don't need a solicitor in order to effect a variation of a will. Can be done perfectly legally without one.

50/50 but if they want they can also leave £1k to each grandchild

In my case, parents will was spilt 25% X 3 amongst 3 siblings with final 25% split between 5 grandchildren (2/2/1 children across 3 families) as set out explicitly in the will. Executors have to carry out the will in the best interests of all parties which means not at the disadvantage of others.

By the way, on the other thread the OP posted they confirmed that the will says 55/45, so all this speculation is irrelevant. The OP thinks it's not "fair" (she's in the 45 side) and clearly most people think 50/50 is "fair".

But what is fair to one person may not be fair to another and the testator decided it this way so the thread is a bit pointless.

No idea why the lawyer was speculating. You just do as the will says even if you think it's unfair.

50;50 unless will says otherwise
I have 2 DC
DB has no DC
if we inherit from DM it would be up to us to distribute it further down the line

Executors have to carry out the will to the letter, not to "the best interests" of anyone!

You have to comply with whatever is in the Will.

My grandfather left his estate to the grandchildren and great grandchildren who were alive at the date of his death. The estate was split into quarters, with the grandchildren (2) having 1/4 each. The remaining 2/4 was split between 3 great grandchildren.

50/50

If the father died without a will then the law states:

The estate is shared equally between the children or their descendants.
If a son or daughter has already died, their children (the grandchildren of the deceased) inherit in their place.

If there is a will in place then the will is followed to the letter otherwise the executors of the will are in breach of their duties.

This!