When two women both claimed a child as their own, the dispute was brought before King Solomon. His edit was terrifying to hear, but had logic and a bit of psychology behind it: he ordered the baby to be cut in half to see how the women would react. The real mother would of course choose to let the baby live. In modern times, the elders in a village in Turkey had the same solution to an inheritance issue, but the results were not quite the same.
When their father passed away, Brothers Ali and Ahmet Kangel inherited a home in a remote Turkish village. The house was a wreck, so they planned to tear most of it down and build a new house. Discussions about living arrangements, however, led to nothing but disagreements and they could not come to a resolution of what to do. They turned to the village elders, who had a solution that seemed logical to some, but the result is an architectural oddity.
A chainsaw was used to cut the house in half and each brother got half of it. One of the brothers renovated his half the other has not done so. The result is a house the looks dilapidated on one side and modern on the other. Daily Sabah reported this story in “Brothers cut house in half over inheritance dispute.”
It is not unusual for siblings to have disputes over an inheritance. It is also not unusual for the best solution to resolve the dispute is to cut it in half. However, it is an unusual solution when the dispute involves a house. Perhaps, this case will turn out just like King Solomon and the baby. It might turn out that the unusual decision was the wisest.
Reference: Daily Sabah (July 6, 2015) “Brothers cut house in half over inheritance dispute.”
For more information on estate planning, please visit my estate planning website.
