Imagine this situation – a parent has written a Will leaving their estate to their 2 children in equal shares. Then after doing this, they make a gift of a substantial sum of money to the younger sibling to help them buy a house. If the parent then dies without making a similar gift to the older child, do we end up with an imbalance in the estate – would/should the older sibling expect to receive more from the estate to balance up the lifetime gift to their sibling? This is where the double portions rule is likely to be effective.
