The third episode shown at 9.00pm last Friday evening. The theme: fairness amongst the siblings.
Sir Gerry Robinson turns his attention towards two families who have to decide how to split their estate fairly and avoid major issues amongst the siblings.
The first family is from Kent who have built a large dairy farm which is currently valued at £4 Million. Raymond wants to leave the farm to his three sons who all worked there and leave out his daughter who is currently at University and has no plans to work on the farm in the future. His wife Jane thinks this is entirely unfair and they seek advice from senior lawyer Sue Medder who provides a number of options for the couple.
The second family are devout Muslims and want to follow the teachings from the Koran. The Koran states that boys should be left twice as much as their sisters but certain conditions are attached.
Khalid and Sara face a dilemma in writing their Will. Do they remain true to their faith which is clearly unfair in modern Britain or do they share their estate equally.
Raymond and Jane discuss the Will options with their children. Sir Gerry probes the individuals to determine their views which in most respects is rather selfish. All the sons are happy to cut their sister from the farm and business. One son also wants to stop his sister receiving one of the family properties which was a compromise suggested by their Mother.
The family debate saw all the son's state their opinion which really upset their sister and shocked their Mother.
Raymond showed little emotion throughout the discussion and sent out mixed messages. His main priority was to ensure the farm continued as a business for his sons and felt that was only possible by cutting out his daughter.
Sue Medder presented an option where the business is split into shares and the shares are allocated in the Will. This option allows all four children to benefit from the business with the share proportions decided by both Raymond and Jane. The other options included leaving the business to one son or the three sons.
Khalid and Sara from Cheshire seek advice from specialists in Muslim law and have a discussion whch also involved friends who have similar issues. The advice received from the Muslim hierarchy was inflexible and pressurised the couple to follow Sharia law which would mean leaving Sara only 1/8th of the estate and the remaining estate to be shared with his own family and stated that their son receives twice as much as his sisters. Khalid and Sara believed this was fundamentally unfair in their eyes and they seeked further advice from members of their community. A leading Muslim academic had a different view and suggested the estate could be spread evenly if the son decided not to support his sisters for the rest of their lives.
The decision had to be made and Raymond and Jane decided to follow the share option with a 32%, 29%, 29% and 10% split for the business, also giving one of the properties to their daughter and splitting the remaining properties amongst their sons. Jane was very happy with this but it was clear Raymond has been pressurised and didn't really like the option. If Jane was to go first there may be changes!!
Khalid and Sara followed the second piece of advice they received and shared the estate equally but allow the option for the son to take twice as much if he committed to support his sisters. They also decided that the family home would stay with the surviving spouse and would then pass on to the children after the death of surviving spouse. This conclusion was progressive for Khalid and Sara and represented an understanding of modern day life in Britain which expects a fair split on the estate.
Once again the key point of this show is that a Will must be discussed and prepared before death as ignoring the decision will create major issues for all the surviving family members and could tear families apart.
Next week the issue moves to child care and who will take care of your children before they reach the age of 18 if both parents die. This looks like another important subject especially in modern times when families are often been affected by divorce and separation.
Sir Gerry Robinson turns his attention towards two families who have to decide how to split their estate fairly and avoid major issues amongst the siblings.
The first family is from Kent who have built a large dairy farm which is currently valued at £4 Million. Raymond wants to leave the farm to his three sons who all worked there and leave out his daughter who is currently at University and has no plans to work on the farm in the future. His wife Jane thinks this is entirely unfair and they seek advice from senior lawyer Sue Medder who provides a number of options for the couple.
The second family are devout Muslims and want to follow the teachings from the Koran. The Koran states that boys should be left twice as much as their sisters but certain conditions are attached.
Khalid and Sara face a dilemma in writing their Will. Do they remain true to their faith which is clearly unfair in modern Britain or do they share their estate equally.
Raymond and Jane discuss the Will options with their children. Sir Gerry probes the individuals to determine their views which in most respects is rather selfish. All the sons are happy to cut their sister from the farm and business. One son also wants to stop his sister receiving one of the family properties which was a compromise suggested by their Mother.
The family debate saw all the son's state their opinion which really upset their sister and shocked their Mother.
Raymond showed little emotion throughout the discussion and sent out mixed messages. His main priority was to ensure the farm continued as a business for his sons and felt that was only possible by cutting out his daughter.
Sue Medder presented an option where the business is split into shares and the shares are allocated in the Will. This option allows all four children to benefit from the business with the share proportions decided by both Raymond and Jane. The other options included leaving the business to one son or the three sons.
Khalid and Sara from Cheshire seek advice from specialists in Muslim law and have a discussion whch also involved friends who have similar issues. The advice received from the Muslim hierarchy was inflexible and pressurised the couple to follow Sharia law which would mean leaving Sara only 1/8th of the estate and the remaining estate to be shared with his own family and stated that their son receives twice as much as his sisters. Khalid and Sara believed this was fundamentally unfair in their eyes and they seeked further advice from members of their community. A leading Muslim academic had a different view and suggested the estate could be spread evenly if the son decided not to support his sisters for the rest of their lives.
The decision had to be made and Raymond and Jane decided to follow the share option with a 32%, 29%, 29% and 10% split for the business, also giving one of the properties to their daughter and splitting the remaining properties amongst their sons. Jane was very happy with this but it was clear Raymond has been pressurised and didn't really like the option. If Jane was to go first there may be changes!!
Khalid and Sara followed the second piece of advice they received and shared the estate equally but allow the option for the son to take twice as much if he committed to support his sisters. They also decided that the family home would stay with the surviving spouse and would then pass on to the children after the death of surviving spouse. This conclusion was progressive for Khalid and Sara and represented an understanding of modern day life in Britain which expects a fair split on the estate.
Once again the key point of this show is that a Will must be discussed and prepared before death as ignoring the decision will create major issues for all the surviving family members and could tear families apart.
Next week the issue moves to child care and who will take care of your children before they reach the age of 18 if both parents die. This looks like another important subject especially in modern times when families are often been affected by divorce and separation.
these summaries are very useful, thanks!
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