One parent is weighing a difficult question after a relative’s death left an inheritance to only two of their children. The will had last been updated when the family had just two kids. It named only those two, each set to receive about $50,000. A third child has since been born, and a fourth is on the way, and neither of them is included in the will.
The parent believes the relative simply ran out of time to update the will and would have wanted all the children treated equally. The money is a meaningful sum for kids that age, though not so large that the parent and their spouse could not match it themselves. The two of them disagree about whether they should use their own savings to give the younger children an equal amount.
The parent laid out the dilemma on Reddit and asked whether they were overthinking it. Some commenters urged them to quietly even things out if they could afford to. Others pointed out that the two named children are legally entitled to their inheritance and that no parent is obligated to equalize a gift from someone else.
Many of the replies came from people who had been through something similar. A recurring theme was that the situation is surprisingly common, since wills are often written years before a family is complete and are not always updated as more children arrive. That gap is exactly what trips up families like this one.
How Often Does This Happen?
Only some of my kids received an inheritance
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u/SwimmingButton4368 in
inheritance
Inheritance gaps like this one usually start with an out-of-date will. Only about one in four American adults has a will at all, according to a 2025 Caring.com survey, and even those who do often go years without revisiting it. A will written before some of the children or grandchildren were born can leave them unintentionally cut out, even when that was never the person’s intent.
The law generally follows the will as written. That means children named in it receive their shares, and those left out don’t have any automatic claim. Estate attorneys can keep that from happening with wording that automatically includes children born after a will is signed. It would need to be much more vague, however. When parents leave money to their kids, most split it equally among them.
What Can You Do If a Will Leaves You Out?
If you happen to be getting an uneven inheritance, don’t panic. Some families will even things out voluntarily. Heirs and relatives can start chipping in, so everyone ends up with a similar amount. Others, like the parent in this case, set the money aside in equal accounts for each child. They fund some accounts from the inheritance and the rest from their own savings, often using college accounts such as 529 plans.
For your own will, keep your own estate plan up to date and make sure you’re always reviewing it. Make the changes to your will that you need after every major event and ask your attorney to add language that covers children and grandchildren who arrive later. Then you should be covered in situations like this one, even with unplanned changes.