Another fairness/inheritance one, WWYD?

[PrintersCourt]

X has 2 adult kids, 1 grandchild and a partner of 20 years. X dies leaving enough to pay for a funeral and around £5k leftover. They didnt make a formal will, just expressed that the 4 people above should be beneficiaries but not specifying amounts/split.

Kid A is the oldest, a single parent with their own home and a good job. The grandchild is theirs.

Kid B is younger, in a minimum wage job and they don't own any property or have kids.

Partner is retirement age without their own property, not entitled to anything officially as they didnt live with X.

What is a fair way to split the £5k? £2k each for the kids and £1k for the partner has been suggested plus a few hundred that's also left for the grandchild. Or should it be a 3 way split?

That's all irrelevant imo. The partners finances are irrelevant. Even if they got all £5k, it is not a life changing amount.

Simple three way split. Grandchild will inherit from their own parents

I think you need to 'fess up to who you are in this drama. Are you the eldest that has to make the decision?

I agree with this

It should just be an equal four way split, it’s a small amount of money so if the deceased wishes are followed surely no one should argue.

I would split equally between all 4, the deceased wanted split between all 4 though no amounts specified, it such a small amount it’s all a bit cheese paring to muck about with an extra 250 here or there.

I would treat the partner as if they were married and give it all to them.

same

As it’s £5K, I’d probably just say a 4-way split.

With such a small sum, and everyone getting on well, I don’t think there’s really any ‘wrong’ way to do it.

You could say the partner needs it more - going from living as a couple to living alone is a big financial hit.

You could say the grandchild might benefit more as starting out now is tough for young people.

Ideally, the 2 children would come to an agreement between themselves, I think.

You can take into account an expression of what they wanted to happen and argue that is a last wish etc - so it would be challengeable if they only split it 3 ways so it needs to go 4 ways. TO be honest its a brief convo with a lawyer maybe with 2 or 3 of the beneficiaries present,

I think a 3 way split would be fairer than involving the grandchild, but I would sooner see more go to the partner if they were living together. Adjusting to being a 1 person household while grieving is difficult and expensive on a practical level, alongside the emotional side. £5k would be a useful cushion, a bit of security to ease that transition a bit. £1k wouldn't bring much security at all.

Or if it is important to share it, maybe £1k each to the adult children and the remainder to partner.

I don't understand the partner situation. They were "together" for 20 years but didn't actually live together? It sounds like their life wasn't intertwined in any real way so I'm not sure i'd call them a "partner" more of a long term girlfriend/boyfriend. What is their living situation if they didn't live with X OR own their own home and they're retired?

To be honest I thought you were missing a few zeroes off your amounts. 😆5k is a trifling amount of money, not life changing for any of the beneficiaries so it shouldn't need this much angst. Clearly X thought so too, otherwise they would have specified how to split it. It sounds like it should just be equal shares TBH but it depends if the grandchild is an adult. If still a dependent then I would give less than the other adults.

Adjusting to being a 1 person household while grieving is difficult and expensive on a practical level, alongside the emotional side

Sounds like they didn't live together so there is no change of household as such.

yeah sorry I missed that bit

Either there is a will, in which case division is made accordingly.

or there isn’t, in which case division is made according to intestacy rules.

i don’t think relatives can just decide how to divvy up an estate 🤷‍♀️

is there probate? Or administration.

i’d get legal advice before anyone receives any money.

Why? If the OP is accurate, there are only two people entitled to inherit under intestacy provisions in the UK, and they are both willing to go along with what their parent wanted and share the money with the partner and grandchild. I can't imagine what would be gained by spending some of the relatively small funds on getting a solicitor to confirm that or draw up a deed of variation or whatever it's called. (I'm not a lawyer, by the way - but I'd be amazed if any actual lawyer comes along and says it's more complicated than this.)

If you were talking a large sum of money I'd spend time on deciding what I thought was best. But for a small amount of money I'd just split 4 ways and call it a day.

Do either of the kids plan on keeping a relationship with the partner? With such a small sum, and if neither kid actually needed a few grand, I'd give it to the partner, otherwise, would split £1500 per adult, £500 for grandchild

@DogInATent Yes and it’s harder than I expected trying to be fair to everyone especially as I am one of the recipients. It’s true it’s not a big amount at all but it would be useful to all of us in different ways.

The partner will definitely still have a relationship with the kids so it’s important everyone is happy.

I’m leaning towards a 3 way split with a smaller amount (there is a bit extra) to grandchild.

It's only £5k so hardly going to be life changing.

I'd give £2k each to the two children, then £1k to the partner.

The parent that has a child can then give some of their share to their child if they wish.

What do the partner and your sibling think? It's your name on the paper as decision maker, but that is only a unilateral decision if you want it to be. If you think you can agree a fair split by consensus, then do that with them, and you rubber-stamp it. It's about the relationships and everyone's feelings above all else.

I would still favour leaving the grandchild out of it, especially since you are their parent. Including them is the biggest risk of you being perceived as favouring your own. But it depends on the individuals - a doting aunty or uncle might be very keen to share. I think keeping it fair between you and your sibling's "branches" (so if your child gets anything, it comes from your share) is the safest path to be seen to be fair.

First thing you really need to do is check to see whether probate is needed. It’s easy to check on the government website, only the next of kin can complete it. If you do then you’ll receive Letter of Administration, as the person died intestate, to allow the estate to be shared as either the law allows or via deed of variation.

2.5k to each child. partner didnt live with her and grandchild inherits indirectly from the mother. partner can have memento of their time together

I would buy the grandchild a lovely memento of X as their inheritance- a silver locket, a lovely photo frame, a treasured book etc and then split the remaining cash between the three adults.

It's a small token amount, equal is the fairest way.