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 50/50 between the two sons. Son with 3 children thinks 55/45 in his favour is fairer as he has more children. Just interested in views, thanks.

Oh! So one of you decided to help yourself to an additional 10% of your father's estate because you happen, at this time, to have one extra child.

That's nice. I am not surprised the solicitor made a comment, especially in the circumstances.

It sounds like the lawyer suggested it when the will was drawn up, not after the death.
Just as we said to our lawyer "we don't want our children to be able to spend their inheritance the day they turn 18" and he said "23 is a common age to keep their inheritance until, I suggest that" but in our case we followed his suggestion (and didn't revert to 18, or go for an older age).

Equal split between the children. Grandchildren don't come into it

But was it necessarily thought out as "25% for each child, 10% for each grandchild" or was it more "I'll give this child a bit extra because children are expensive to raise."

I'd have done 50/50, but I can see a parent doing 55/45 just because they want to help with additional costs, rather than because they're thinking it through as 10% for each grandchild.

Yep, 50:50!

To go against the will and give more than 50/50 could actually get the executor in a lot of trouble. The will states its for the children not grandchildren and they had 2 children. the brother is just being a greedy, cheeky fucker to be honest.

I don't know how old everyone is but it's ridiculous to do anything but 50:50. You may have another child, One of you may go off and have a second family of 4. God forbid, one grandchild could die.

Op says the will is 55/45

What does the will actually say?

I think the way you’re presenting and considering this makes it sound unfair ie 45/55 between siblings. I assume the grandparents saw it more like 25% to each son and 10% to each grandchild; which is a perfectly fair and legitimate way to split inheritance.

Depends if the inheritance was intended to go to the children or grandchildren.

I've experienced a situation when an amount of inheritance was left to six grandchildren, to be distributed by the parents of each of the three families. However the will didn't state how it was to be divided, and so began a dispute.
Family 1 (1 grandchild) thought it should be split 3 ways between the three families.
Family 2 (2 grandchildren) was indifferent as it made no difference to their share.
Family 3 (one child) thought it should be divided equally between all grandchildren, as it was left to them, so 1/6 to each grandchild.
It ended up being divided 3 ways as the parent of family one manipulated the situation to their advantage.
So instead of each grandchild getting an equal share of the inheritance as was clearly intended, the grandchild of family 1 got a far greater share than the other grandchildren, receiving double that received by each of the grandchildren of family 2, and three times what each of the grandchildren of family 3 received.
None of the adult grandkids were bothered about the money, however the rift between the parents of families 1 and 3 was irreparable and they no longer speak.

I'd suggest determining whether the inheritance is for the children of the deceased, or the grandchildren. Then divide it equally between the recipients. Remember inheritance is a gift, not a right. Disputes over money can ruin relationships, it just isn't worth losing people you love over.

50/50 is the norm isnt it? What does the will say?

You could do

• 1/7 each with dc and gc inheriting directly.
• Or skip the middle generation and each gc gets 1/5.

But I would have expected that to be stipulated in the will.

@3amAndImStillAwake No idea - but it was the only way I could think of why 45%/55% was chosen.

I definitely wouldn't have done that - it would be 50/50 or grandchildren directly gifted too.

so its 45/55 - are we talking about a significant amount of money £100K or so or a few thousand?

OP, what is your objective in asking this in a legal context? The Will was made, the father has died, there is no option but for the executor to distribute the Will as stated.

Unless the brother with the greater share chose to make a Deed of Variation to adjust to 50/50, which seems unlikely since he influenced the unequal division in the first place.

Yes, most people would consider it unfair, but legally it is what the father chose to do,, what he did is legal, and that’s that.

Sorry for your loss OP.

I mean this gently , but I think you need to step away from this. The will says 55/45 and whilst you may not think that's strictly fair, and whilst it may not be how the majority of people would have done it, that's how it is, and I doubt the deceased parent/grandparent wanted to be anything other than kind to their grandchildren. Being bereaved is a really emotional time, and when there's divorce in the mix too, sorting out the money becomes about way more than actually sorting out the money.

I think couching your question as if the will was still under debate probably wasn't helpful as you've had lots of posters replying with what they would do if starting from scratch, which has probably made you feel more aggrieved and as if you've been 'done over'. But no-one is entitled to an inheritance, and the wishes of the deceased as expressed in the will really are final.

Unless the will says otherwise, it's 50/50.

What does the will say? Your sibling has no legal basis to vary it simply because he has more children.

Ah, the will says 55/45.

So that's what should be done. There is no argument or ambiguity here.

55/45?
So if you have no children you get nothing? This is frankly nuts.
Both the deceased children should get 50:50, its nothing to do with how many GC are produced

All grandchildren get a portion, and the rest split between brothers.

ie. 5%, 5%, 5%, 5%, 5%, 37.5%, 37.5%
or 10% each for grandchildren, and 25% each for brothers

if the gc are to inherit, they should be named in the will, rather than a larger percent going to their parents.

ie. P

I agree that the son with three kids is a CF - I'm only surprised that he didn't suggest splitting it 60/40, based on the grandchildren - even though the money isn't being left directly to the GC.

Maybe he wanted to do that, but didn't dare to push his CFery any further - or he did try that and the parent objected.

It's always a risk leaving to (or based on) your GC, as nobody (obviously unless they don't have any of their own children) can ever know that they won't have any more GC after they make their will or die - especially if they have sons. When you base it on your own children, you can be certain that, once you die (or a maximum of nine months after your death), you will definitely not become the parent of any more children.

All this is moot, though, as it's being left to the father of the GC and not to them. He could spend the lot himself, or it could all be swallowed up by care costs, and there be nothing left to them anyway.

We knew a family where the surviving elderly spouse left everything equally split nine ways to each person as follows:
Son 1 / Wife / DC1 / DC2
Son 2 / Wife / DC1 / DC2
Son 3 (bachelor, no children)

None of the adults better or worse off than the rest.

Son 3, who is a very generous, selfless soul, thought this exceedingly fair, even though, if split 'traditionally', he would have had one third to himself instead of one ninth.

Son 2 argued that it should be split three ways between the sons only; not because he thought that would be fairer for Son 3, but because he personally would have preferred to have one third all for himself rather than his own family have four ninths - getting on for half of it - between them.

I’m assuming the deceased individual died intestate, as there’s be no discussions if they’d left a will withe specific instructions?

Shows that how important it is to make a will.

No. The son with the extra kid helped his dad draw up the will.

THERE IS A WILL STATING 45/55% SPLIT!!

The will says two sons. It should be 50/50 in any case.

It could be that son 2 would have liked to have more kids but his finances or health didn't permit. He shouldn't be penalised for it.
Gifts would've been made to the grandchildren if they want to and the parents (sons) can gift their children if they wish.

Son 1 with 3 kids will have 3 kids look after him and the benefits of that anyway.