Estate planning

Woman in 200K inheritance battle labelled as ‘unfair’ by siblings

May 15, 2018

"I have given 20k each to my siblings, yet apparently I'm being unfair." Source: Pexels

Who gets what and how much after someone dies can lead to plenty of family fights, especially if one sibling receives a lot more money than the others. That’s the situation one woman has found herself in after she was left £120,000 (A$216,500) by a relative, but her siblings were sidelined and given nothing.

The anonymous woman took to Mumsnet, saying she had been labelled as “unfair” by her siblings, despite giving them £20,000 from her share.

Posting on the online forum, she wrote: “So, what does everyone think about inheritance and how it should be split if it’s only left to one sibling? I have recently been left in excess of 120k by a family member. None of my siblings were.”

She revealed that she’d weighed her options before giving her siblings a portion of her inheritance, noting the gift was a “huge leg-up” for her family since she has children of her own.

“Yet apparently I’m being unfair (according to some) by not splitting it completely three ways? AIBU [Am I being unreasonable] to not split it equally?” she asked.

Unsurprisingly, many could relate to her plight, with inheritance battles and bickering making its way into most families at one point or another.

One user wrote: “They should be sodding grateful you gave them anything. You could easily have swanned off with the lot.”

Another added: “You did not have to do anything. £20k is a lot of money and better than nothing. I would be inclined to tell them this and suggest you can always withdraw your kind offer if it offends them so badly. Wonder what they would really do if tables were turned?”

While a third wrote: “Don’t give these greedy people any more. They’re lucky to get anything! Would they have split it three ways if they had been given it?”

However, other users have since said it depends on the situation, and if the money came from a parent, it should probably be shared equally.

One user wrote: “I think it depends on some other circumstances. If it was a parent, I’d probably share it equally. An aunt who you were the closest to? No obligation to share at all (not that there is anyway).”