A will can give sons double. Paddy Power's €861m will just did

Two honest limits first. We know this will only through one newspaper's account of a public record; we do not know the lifetime gifts, the family's arrangements or what the four children were told. And moving the paperwork to Singapore would not move an Irish family out of Irish tax. Ireland's Capital Acquisitions Tax reaches inheritances from an Irish-resident parent, wherever the assets sit. The question is what Singapore law would do with the same will, made by a parent domiciled and resident in Singapore.

Start with tax, because the numbers are large. Revenue charges 33% on what each child inherits above a lifetime threshold from both parents; for a death in September 2025 that threshold was €400,000. On a straight reading, a son's third of roughly €287 million would carry about €94.5 million of tax and a daughter's sixth of roughly €143 million about €47.2 million: about €283 million in all, before any relief the public record does not show. Each grandchild's €50,000 sits above the €40,000 threshold for grandchildren. Singapore has had no estate duty for deaths on or after 15 February 2008, and no inheritance or gift tax.

Now the fractions. In Singapore a will can give sons more than daughters, and the law does not ask why. The equal split many families assume is the rule only where there is no will: the Intestate Succession Act 1967, section 7, rule 3, divides an estate among the children in equal portions. A will replaces that rule. Sabena Power's will, made in Singapore by a non-Muslim parent, would pass a third to each son and a sixth to each daughter exactly as written.

The Irish check on that freedom is section 117 of the Succession Act 1965, read on 18 October 2026. Any child may apply within six months of the first grant. The court asks whether the parent failed in the moral duty to make proper provision in accordance with her means, judged as a prudent and just parent and taking into account the position of each of the children. It reaches adult children, married or not, and it measures provision against the parent's means, not against the child's needs alone.

Singapore's check is much narrower. The Inheritance (Family Provision) Act 1966, read on 18 October 2026, applies only where the deceased dies domiciled in Singapore. Under section 3, the people who may apply are a spouse, a daughter who has not married or cannot support herself through disability, an infant son, and a son who cannot support himself through disability. What the court may order is reasonable provision for maintenance, by periodical payments, not a larger share. An adult married daughter cannot apply at all, and no daughter left €143 million lacks maintenance.

One group of Singapore families has no choice to make. Under section 111 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act 1966, a Muslim domiciled in Singapore may dispose of property by will only in accordance with Muslim law, and under faraid as generally applied a son takes twice a daughter's share. For those families the two-to-one split this will chose is the default, and an equal split is what takes planning, through lifetime gifts or other instruments. The page on faraid and company shares sets out how that works.

That leaves the one thing the Power family's record cannot show: the reason. Singapore's Act tells the court to weigh the deceased's reasons, including a signed and dated written statement, and Ireland's court weighs each child's position, which is where lifetime gifts and roles count. A parent who chooses unequal shares can write down why, list what each child already received, and tell the children while the conversation is still possible. The fractions will be read either way; written reasons decide how they are read. And an estate this size needs cash ready for the tax, wherever it falls.

For the reader whose parents are planning now, the questions can be asked at the table without accusing anyone. Are the shares equal, and if not, is the reason written down, signed and dated? Does the record of what each child received during life exist, so an unequal will is not read as a verdict on anyone? Where is the family domiciled, and so whose law and whose tax applies? Wanting to know your position is stewardship, not greed. The Power children's position, at least, is now on the public record.