I'm curious, so here's the ugly question. Who thinks that a family inheritance should be divided equally amongst the children? I've come across some that think since they spent alot of time looking after the parents as they aged, that they should recieve the most or even all of the inheritance, since the other brothers or sisters did nothing. This may seem fair but i think that if the parents want to leave more to one child than the other, then they will do so in the will. I've also come across some that think everything goes to the boys, and the girls recieve nothing, usually with the excuse of the girls not carrying on the family name when they get married. I don't think this is fair, but there's not much you can do about it i guess? Will's can be such an ugly thing, there are some i know that think it's better to spend it all and enjoy it, then leave it for them to fight over. I think this is greedy & a shame, but it's a little bit of a tempting option!
Split equally between all of them is what my family has done usually, isn't that also the default by law?
Depends on the family. I have relatives who are seriously messed up and ones who are really nice. You can be damn sure that when I die then none of that cash is going to the teenage mother cokehead, but most of it will be going to my direct brothers and sisters who are all nice. If theses relatives were all my children then I'd do the same, not support someones habit with my death. I believe the way my family has it split is that certain items are for certain people (antique rings for my sisters, books and so on for me and my brother), but the cash is to be equally split assuming everyone is over a certain age and of sound mind. If someone, such as my littlest sister, is still too young then my brother, me and one of my aunts become executors of that share and can hold it for her until later - acting with it only on a joint decision. As the oldest brother I immediately gain hold of a load of assets and so on, but only a fair portion of them are actually mine and I've discussed the matter with my parents and family so I know what they expect. Splitting it between only brothers seems unfair to me, but in other cultures I can see the importance of that and I can kind of understand it. I also know that if my son wiped my arse for twenty years of old age then I'd be inclined to be nicer to him than to a daughter who disappeared and was never heard from again. I wouldn't leave her out of course, but I'd probably leave the antiques and so on to him and divide the cash and property between the two.
Basically it boils down to the fact that all families are different, and so there is no carte blanche 'right way' to split up a will.
I would hope that my dad sees sense, seeing as my brothers managed to ***** their £47,000 inheritance from our mum, and I managed to double mine. I don't relish the thought of going through FOUR garages of miscellaneous classic bike parts and tools, though my dad reckons there's about £60K in there, if dealt with properly. He's only 50, let's hope he's got a few years left in him to sort through it himself! Back on topic, as long as the will is valid, it should be adhered to. If I want to leave all my money to my cousins, so that my brothers get nothing, that should be my perogative.
Excluding girls from inheritance because they don't carry the family name is ridiculous IMO. Split equally is the only way, excepting brats who don't deserve any of it of course, or other circumstances such as parents leaving more money to disabled offspring who need the cash for care, etc. Case in point, my brain damaged Aunt will need to be cared for once my Grandmother dies. That said, my Aunt has managed to do unskilled jobs for nearly 40 years, and with zero outgoings during that time, has more than enough to pay for her care all on her own until she too dies, so things still stand at 50/50 between my Father and Aunt.
From personal experience I know that will not inherit anything from my parents, as instead my sister will receive the lot. Their reasoning is they expect that I will be able to take care of myself and that she will probably need help.
I can see some logic behind that. There is also a good reason to give only to the oldest son - if you have a large estate and lots of children and you split that up it will quickly be worth very little. If the oldest keeps it then it will go on being a large estate.
That was actually very funny and very well done. Every family is different surely, it depends on the relationships within, or perhaps Gramps marrys an 18 year old double-D breasted blondie and she gets a cut for making him pass with a smilie on his face?
As most have said it will vary from family to family. Personally the way i look at it is - Ive had to work hard to get to the stage im at now, I want to enjoy myself in later life and I wont be leaving large sums of money to anybody when i go. I want my child to have to work just as hard as i do now. Ideally Id like to leave a lump sum to my wife (if we ever get married) to make sure she doesnt have to struggle when im gone, and Id like a trust fund or sumthing that could release X amount every year for 10 years or something for my kid/s, not enough for them not to have to work but a yearly bonus if you like.
Like Hiren im from an Indian Family but in my case is that im the only child. that means I get everything. That does not mean that im gonna go crazy and spend it all but the opposite and save for my own children, if i ever have any. I'd rather have the property that we own(3) then the money, i know that my dad has left a nice sum to charity which is nice. I would say the best thing is that i wont have a mortgage to pay when i receive ownership.
there's nothing worse than a family squabbling over an inheritance; it demeans everyone involved. if a will is in place, it should be honoured, and those who were not left a share they deemed appropriate should probably take that as a posthumous hint and do some soul-searching.
Personally, I don't expect anything. I'd expect parents to blow the lot before they die. After all it's their money --their obligations to me ended after they raised me and gave me a proper education so I could look after myself as an adult.
My Grandparents are blowing all their monies on family holidays and similar things. Something that everyone can enjoy. Fair play to them!
It's all very well saying "I think it's like this in my family..." but if there's no will, there won't be a choice. It's taken years of my Mum going on and on but my Dad finally got the message that people he really doesn't like in her family would get most of his stuff if they died with no will. Sadly there's been a massive family fall out since they wrote their wills so now it needs to be changed again! Inheritance tax is evil too, land is the one thing my family has, but inheriting it costs more than it's worth Wills are damn important, you're never too young to write one.
Yeah inheritance tax is very cheeky, that money has already been taxed, why does it need to be again?
After discussion with us all, my mother is leaving everything equally split to her grandchildren. All her children are comfortably off and don't need the dough, her grandkids are just starting with families and houses.
