Fair Division

“That’s not fair!” In many households, this is the common refrain of children as they advocate for themselves or express what they feel to be unjust. This pursuit of fairness, however, is not limited to arguments between parents and young children.

The notion of fairness often pervades family dynamics and may continue even beyond death when decisions about dividing accounts and property arise. The law has attempted to address different notions of fairness with a variety of distribution strategies. Per stirpes, by representation, and per capita are key terms in wills and trust agreements that specify the way money and property are to be equitably divided.
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Equality is a noble concept and one many people turn to when deciding how to divide up their estate. There are many circumstances in which equal distribution of assets among beneficiaries is the right choice, but there are some cases where identical inheritances do not make the most sense. In such situations, the difference between what is equal and what is fair is obvious. Let us take a look at an example of each:

Equal Division

In hypothetical one, you have three kids and want to divide your assets and wealth equally among them. All three are at similar places in their lives, have received similar emotional and financial support from you in the past, and are each responsible and capable of managing their individual inheritance.
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