Is the uneven distribution of farms to children still common place?

There are 6 children in our family. Oldest son, not the oldest child was always the one going to get the farm. Small farm by today's standards. He showed the interest and put in the work from a very early age. When I was off playing sport and chasin girls he was working away farming. The rest of us have been looked after with sites or a helping hand getting in the housing ladder. Farm has been transferred and he lives at home with elderly parents. House will pass to him when they pass on. Running joke in the family that what's left, if anything, will go to the 5 grandchildren.

Thinking of others I know in the area, I can think of loads where it wasn't the first born son who got the farm. It was the son who showed the most interest.

I do know in one case, where the eldest was a daughter, had great interest in farming, but the farm went to the only son. He was the youngest of 5. So I think there is a thing about it passing to a son alright, not necessarily the eldest son.

In the case of the farmer with addiction problems being stopped from selling the land perhaps the addiction was a factor.

The family may not have wanted them to have more funds to feed the addiction.

In most cases if you own an asset you can sell it. However often times land is left to someone who wants to farm it and won't want to sell it. A farm is like any other business. How many family run shops do you see sold.

Im the daughter of a farmer - although my brother will get the biggest share Im happy with what I will inherit. I am being looked after.

I have always done the paperwork and financials for the farm. This is an important role that is often overlooked. Im sure neighbours and onlookers will say I had no interest in the farm over the years but I do have a big part to play in doing the ever growing paperwork associated with the farm. This role is also time consuming.

Also I have a female cousin who is in her 50s. She was the one who stayed at home to look after her disabled mother. Her brother inherited farm and farmhouse ( its in the farmyard). Her mother is now dead and she has to move out of the house. She now finds herself in her 50's, she never married or had a serious relationship because of caring for her mother. She now finds herself with nothing which is unfair.

What Im saying I suppose is that there is lots of roles played in a farming family but often the one that is seen doing the manual labour on the farm is the favoured. Im not saying thats wrong but there are circumstances where other siblings should be looked after some way and thats not always the case.

In that case your cousin should have a right of residence in the house until she dies. I assume that the house and farm were handed over before the parents died so it’s in her brother’s name.

She should also be given the option of a site on which to build a house and see if she can get a mortgage from the council for low income earners.

She needs to have a chat with her brother if he’s reasonable.

@Deeec

The brother sounds like a ***te. Someone should have a word with him.

If he inherited everything his mother’s care should have been his reaponsibility. That’s how I would look at it.

@Deeec

I've an uncle inherited my mother's home place. It was still my mother and her sisters looked after her mother in her latter years. A selfish man but in fairness the family has moved on but it was annoying at the time

Seems Adriana Acosta Cortez has moved on from generating Irish Times articles to starting threads on boards

Spot on. I know I was lucky in one sense, the parents were worried that the farm might cause a row and divide the siblings but they knew/acknowledged that I'd done the work over the years and put my own money in at times. They'll end up benefitting with cash + other assets etc. The wife was fairly vocal with me on who got the better deal in her opinion......

I'd one brother I thought might want a cut at it but he'd be happy to come and give a dig out when it suited him then leave the wet dark winter feeding to myself. If there was a likely hood that the farm be divided, it would have killed me but I'd have walked away and see it remain as one block.

Shocking. I hope she made a second will later leaving the house to ever she actually wanted.

Some people are just discusting. Farming family nearby in the lasts 12 months. Different farms owned by brothers, one wi th grown up children.

The nephew was helping his son-less uncle with Agfood online as his uncle was not tech savvy. In the week before his death a lot of cattle moved herd number.

Have another close friend where POA was abused by his uncle (who had POA over his father, my friends grandfather) to sell part of assets while alive to their own son.

People can be very low.

" ....parents can will their property to whomever they choose ....."

This is not exactly true. People should be aware of The 1965 Succession Act. It ensures that a surviving spouse gets adequately provided for.

Succession Act, 1965 (irishstatutebook.ie)

It does happen. When we moved to our current home we were advised by more than one local to "be careful" with one particular neighbour. There was an elderly gent living on a small farm who kept to himself. He was befriended shall we say by a married woman late in life, passed away and then the family find out the farm has been signed over to her. She moves into the house shortly after... with the husband.

It was about 40 years ago but the bitterness in the area lives on today.

Best thing any young person can do is if they haven't the farm in the process of being signed over by 25, start planning for the possibility that they won't be getting it. If things aren't moving by the time they're 30, forget about it and move on with their lives. Treat it as a plus if it they actually do get if.

Life's to short to be messing around waiting on a farm that might never come.