Recently, there has been a lot of debate about whether parents should divide their inheritance equally among their children. But the real question is, what does fair mean? And is it always unfair for parents to give most of their estate to one child?
A story from my own family serves as an example. My paternal uncle, 76, is the eldest among his siblings. Their parents passed away recently, leaving behind a plot of farmland measuring roughly 2,160 square meters. It used to be of little value due to its remote location so no one in the family paid much attention to it.
From the 1960s to the 80s, my uncle was the only one who cultivated the land to help raise his younger siblings and get them to college. One by one, they all moved to the city to live, leaving only the eldest uncle’s family behind, who lived off that land and remain there to this day.
While the children of those who left all had access to proper education in the city, my uncle’s three sons dropped out of school due to financial hardship. It was also my uncle and his wife who singlehandedly took care of their bedridden elderly parents for years.
The remote plot was recently included in the expansion plan of a large city, causing its value to skyrocket. Its market value is now estimated at about VND80 billion.
Seeing this, all of my uncle’s younger siblings, both male and female, came rushing back and created an uproar, demanding an equal share of the land as it was considered their parents’ property. Since then, my uncle’s family has not had a moment of peace, as the siblings fight over every inch of land.
Given the circumstances, how should fairness be defined when it comes to inheritance? One child gave up countless opportunities to advance in life and never got to travel with his family to take care of aging parents. Meanwhile, the other children lived freely, focused only on their own families and careers, and visited their parents once or twice a year with small gifts.
That is why I believe we, as outsiders, cannot judge how inheritance is divided in a family. There is no foolproof formula. Only those involved can truly know whether something is fair or not.
Should the younger siblings get a share of the inheritance?
*The opinions were translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.
