2.2 Estate Division

Ms. MagneDiscrete Math

A Fair Division Activity

1) Ms. Richmann brings in a cookie cake to share with the class. Propose a method that seems fair to Tray, Brice, and Rayshaun.

A Fair Division Activity

2) We recently had the tragic loss of music legend Michael Jackson. Assume he left his estate to his 3 children. Propose a method of resolving the issue of who gets what, that will be fair to each child.

Estate Division

House Boat Car

Amanda $80,000 $5,000 $8,000

Brian $70,000 $9,000 $11,000

Charlene $76,000 $7,000 $13,000

Step 1: Each person submits a bid for each item, except the cash.

Amanda, Brian, and Charlene are heirs to an estate that includes a house, a boat, a car, and $150,000 cash. Find a fair way to divide the estate.

Estate DivisionStep 2: Find the fair share for each person. The

fair share is finding the sum of his/her bids (including the cash) and dividing by the number of heirs.

House Boat Car

Amanda $80,000 $5,000 $8,000

Brian $70,000 $9,000 $11,000

Charlene $76,000 $7,000 $13,000

Estate Division

Step 3: Each item in the estate is given to the person who bid the highest for it. (One person may receive more than one item)

House Boat Car

Amanda $80,000 $5,000 $8,000

Brian $70,000 $9,000 $11,000

Charlene $76,000 $7,000 $13,000

House goes to _______________.Boat goes to ________________.Car goes to _________________.

AmandaBrain

Charlene

Estate Division

Step 4: Take each person’s fair share and subtract their bid for the items they received. This is the amount of cash given to each person or the amount the person must pay back to the rest of the group.

House Boat Car

Amanda $80,000 $5,000 $8,000

Brian $70,000 $9,000 $11,000

Charlene $76,000 $7,000 $13,000

Estate Division

Step 5: Take whatever remaining cash there is and split it equally amongst each person.

Final Settlement:Amanda gets ____________________.Brian gets _______________________.Charlene gets ____________________.

the house and $4,000the boat and $74,000

the car and $72,000

Another Example

Alan, Betty, and Carl are heirs to an estate that includes a house, a boat, and a car. Alan bids $115,000 for the house, $6,000 for the boat and $13,000 for the car. Betty bids, $120,000 for the house, $7,000 for the boat, and $6,000 for the car. Carl bids $117,000 for the house, $6,000 for the boat, and $12,000 for the car. Find the final settlement for this situation.