Unfair Disbursement of Estate to Grandchildren

scorzonthedawes

OK so to clarify, the unfairness is not really against the grandchildren, of which I am one, but indirectly to the children (eg my Mum).
Without going into too much detail, my wily grandfather who always (lots of previous evidence of this) favoured his son, both emotionally and financially, over his 2 daughters (one of whom is my Mum) died and his will splits the estate equally between his grandkids. And guess what, yes, his son had more kids than the 2 sisters put together, so once again in effect favouring his son. There are 5 grandkids in total, 3 to his son, one each to his daughters.
Now dont get me wrong I dont need the money, the difference to me could mean getting £20k instead of £30k so trivial amounts, but I do feel it almost penalizes my Mum yet again. And indeed I have a daughter of my own to whom any inheritance I received would go so I am advocating for her more than myself.
I feel Gramps should have split the estate 3 ways between his kids and stipulated that they should then give it to their grandkids in equal amounts or as they saw fit depending on grandkids' situations (one of his son's kids is a bit wild and the money would probably go on drugs, drink and fast cars - with the rest being wasted )
Any thoughts on this, and also any experience of this and of whether it could be challenged?
Cheers in advance

pjcox2005

To be blunt I feel you've cut the numbers in a way that suits your families position, but it's up to the grandfather to do what he wants, not anyone else. The other grandkids could write a post here if inheritance was split your way saying it's unfair that ultimately you got more of the inheritance either direct or indirect just because your mum had less kids, after all, you're all 1 grandchild so why should the split be different between you all.

Joys of inheritances is that everyone seems to want to split them a different way to what they deem "right" but at the end of the day only one view matters. Unless anything untowards has taken place then I don't think they should be challenged, and that applies if you think one parent favoured another - not always ideal but that's live and they may have their own reason for doing so.

I've no idea what my parents are each doing, i hope they spend the lot to enjoy life, but if they split it different between children then so be it. I may feel disappointed but it's their choice.

(Sorry if that sounds blunt, just one view)

Savvy_Sue

I'd echo the above. Leaving it to children with an instruction to pass it on to grandchildren doesn't really work: you either give money without strings in a will, or you put it in trust, you don't give it to someone with instructions to pass it on. 

You're an adult, life isn't fair, deal with it ... (although actually in this case I think it was entirely fair)

-taff

If you feel like that you feel like that, but you have no grounds to contest anything and if you feel that badly for your mum, give her some of the money.

Gavin83

I agree with the above, splitting it equally between the grandchildren seems the most reasonable way of doing it. I don’t really see why your cousins should miss out just because they’ve got more siblings. I suggest any challenge will do nothing other than breed family resentment and destroy any relationships that exist.

spadoosh

Wonder why she only had one?

xylophone

Your grandfather had the right to leave his estate as he chose - he decided that the beneficiaries would be his grandchildren.
And in that he has been scrupulously fair - an equal share to each grandchild.

dresdendave

Just to clarify, assume estate is worth £180,000 (to make the maths easier)
As per the will, split equally between 5 grandkids, each would receive £36,000.
By your "fairer" distribution method, 2 of the GK would get £60k each and 3 would get £20k each.
I guess we must have a different idea of what the word fair means.
Not sure how this favours his son, he presumably has been left nothing.

SevenOfNine

As the others have said, the distribution grandfather made is fair, each grandchild got the same amount.

It neither penalises your mum, nor you, nor your daughter, gramps owed nothing to anyone, his money, his choice. Inheritance is a wonderful gift, left to loved ones. Sadly greed is a massive spoiler & all too often rears it's ugly head.

Perhaps you should blame your mother & aunt for failing to keep pace with their brother in offspring production so the money grab when gramps died would be your version of 'fair'. 

PasturesNew

It cannot be altered.  The Will sounds valid and it was his money, to give away as he chose. 
To many this is the "fair split"; to you it isn't.  It wouldn't to me if I were getting 1/5th instead of 1/3rd. 
But that's what he wanted, that's what was written.  That's it. 
People do have a favourite child.... it's a fact.  It happens in many families. 
Just forget it.  You were remembered in an equal way, of sorts. 

Dox

scorzonthedawes said:

I feel Gramps should have split the estate 3 ways between his kids and stipulated that they should then give it to their grandkids in equal amounts or as they saw fit depending on grandkids' situations (one of his son's kids is a bit wild and the money would probably go on drugs, drink and fast cars - with the rest being wasted )
Any thoughts on this, and also any experience of this and of whether it could be challenged?
Cheers in advance

Yes. Take the chip off your shoulder and enjoy life. What you feel your grandfather should or should not have done is irrelevant; he's the one leaving the cash and it is entirely up to him. Challenge it? On what grounds?