Simon, a retired banker, recently decided to gift money to his four grandchildren. His son has three, and his daughter has one. He and his wife always had a philosophy of treating both children equally. “If I gave some to one to buy a house then I gave the same to the other so I could die thinking I’d been fair,” he says.
They decided to apply this philosophy to the grandchildren as well, planning to gift equal amounts to each one. But to Simon’s surprise, his daughter complained. She had always wanted to have more children, but was unable to. So she saw the plan to give three times as much money to her brother, albeit in trust for his children, as unfair.
Like all parents interviewed for this article, Simon asked for his real name not to be used. He and his wife now plan to give equal amounts to both children — and probably not to mention the initial plan to their son.