My parents have four children and I am the eldest. I have two younger sisters. My youngest brother was born when I was already 20 years old. As the youngest child with siblings who are mature adults, he does not have to worry about providing for the family since everything has been taken care of by his older siblings. My two sisters got married and received money from our parents to start their own businesses, while I inherited our family’s furniture firm.
We have a small orchard that used to cultivate pomelos, oranges, and other fruits. However, we often faced challenges with either the crop’s prices or harvest. Once, when there was a surge in jackfruit and durian prices, I discussed switching to durian with my parents.
A durian orchard requires significant funding as it usually takes as long as 10 years for trees to bear fruit. I remember that during a severe drought in 2016, we had to spend tens of millions of dong on fresh water to irrigate the plants. Fortunately, the garden persevered and began producing fruit consistently, bringing in about VND600-700 million annually.
Then the issue of inheritance arose. I was surprised but not upset by my parents’ decision to give the durian farm to my youngest brother. Since I already had a furniture store and business connections from our parents, I received another plot of farmland where I was planting a different type of crop.
I argued that I had planted the trees and paid for the fertilizer and pesticides, but my parents dismissed my claim, saying that the money came from the furniture store. If I pushed this further, I risked being labeled as trying to take my brother’s inheritance.
My youngest brother focused solely on his studies and has never done farm work. He preferred hiring laborers and trusting them rather than me. He knew about my contribution to the orchard yet never considered offering me a share of its profits.
Distributing inheritance is a sensitive topic to discuss and all sorts of disputes and conflicts could emerge from it.
For sibling relationships to remain harmonious after parents pass down their assets, one or more siblings usually have to take the shorter end of the stick. Allowing younger children to receive a larger share of the inheritance can cause unrest within the family, potentially leading to disputes and lawsuits, as the assets given to them may partly come from their older siblings, not just their parents.
Do you think it is fair that my brother gets to inherit the orchard that I planted?
*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.
