MMD: Should Mrs Robinson leave all her cash to Simon or Garfunkel?

penelopea

This is kinda biblical,isnt it .
Well I think the rich should be sent empty away
and she should leave it to me .

Relatives have no value.

Primrose

Maybe Mother should sit down with her children now, tell them exactly what she is worth at this point in time and that her intention is to split her estate equally. But she should also point out to her elder son that he has already received up front a fair chunk of this family money, which has effectively disadvantaged his brother's inheritance. So from now on, any further money he receives will be deducted from the final sum. But she will have to keep scrupulous records about this and ensure that details are filed with her solicitor (or her Executor, who should preferably not be one of the sons if a financial dispute is likely).

Urbanmeister

Personally I like the approach of an older friend of mine: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, on a Harley, drink in one hand, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, WOO-HOO!!! What a ride!

Yep, that'll do it for me. Split whatever's left between the two of them but try to make it as small an amount as possible. Problem solved.

chinagirl

Mrs Robinson should split the money equally between her 2 sons. this way, avoiding any unpleasantness between them after she has gone.

emphatiC_hanK

Should definitely be 50:50

However, don't for one minute think that this route will ensure that there won't be arguments (speaking from personal experience.)

seven-day-weekend

They should have an equal inheritance.

However, this may not mean necessarily the same amount of money. She could maybe leave the poorer son the house and the other one the money. At least that way the poorer one would have a home that wasn't taking up all his money.

nearlyrich

I don't see why inheritance issues cause problems between siblings, my aunt left one of my brothers a third of her estate with 2 other cousins getting the rest. I am one of 6 but I wasn't expecting anything and I didn't get anything so no problem. As I see it, it wasn't my brother's "fault" he got some cash and we didn't and at the time he was in a worse financial position than any of us so needed it more, it wasn't enough to make sharing it out worth doing.

trejoy

Half each, why should 1 lose out because he is more financially responsible than the other?:rotfl:

FTman

She could leave her estate in a Trust fund with her children as beneficiaries.
This may not only be more tax efficient, but would allow the Trustees of the fund to provide monies to the children as and when required at their discretion.
This would cater for changes in circumstances which may occur after her death.

Kernow_Kid

If I were her, I would leave an equal share to each, but with a personal message for each of them.
For the more succcessful one I would say that it is his own choice whether to help his brother or not.
For the other I would say that my love was equal.

This way no-one gets hurt, and if the richer one didn't want to help, then there's no come back on him.