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Squabbling over inheritance isn’t welcoming, and so is discussing it with the people you love. It is almost implying that they are going to die. Should Galen’s uncle have told him about the inheritance before his demise? Should inheritance be a topic raised by families while they are still alive? Could it have been easier to track down Galen if he had known of his inheritance in the years before his uncle died?

I think Galen's uncle was a lonely man and he only got to learn that his nephew was alive towards his end of his life. So, I think its justified that Galen got to know of his inheritance after his uncle died.

Well, I have heard a lot of stories about families arguing about how to divide the inheritance left by the dead parents. It is because the children are not in good terms with each other. Without a proper documents or communication, it is hard to settle when all of them wanted the best of the inheritance.

Speaking of telling Galen of the inheritance to track him easily, I think it would be the same or perhaps no. Galen is already an orphan and what if someone gets interested in the inheritance and will present themselves as Galen. Worst thing could happen.

Grand Uncle Galen Onita escaped the Lands of the Princes and was disowned by his family. He was scared to contact them. But he spent much of his fortune searching for an heir. I guess that was his redemption.

What better could be expected from a lonely man like Galen's uncle? The most important thing is that he found a way to connect him to his inheritance. As a matter of fact, inheritance should be something discussed after the demise of the actual occupier.

I believe in his last will Galen's uncle said he was sorry he couldn't contact and save Galen from the troubled Land of Princes while he was still alive. Maybe his uncle was too afraid to return there and find Galen himself, because he knew how nightmarish place it really was.

Miriam Molina wrote: ↑01 Oct 2020, 13:38 Grand Uncle Galen Onita escaped the Lands of the Princes and was disowned by his family. He was scared to contact them. But he spent much of his fortune searching for an heir. I guess that was his redemption.

I think this is an excellent point. The uncle would have left before Galen was born and so he would know about the war but wouldn’t have experienced it himself (Galen says the war was going on sense he was little, I think). Why not give a new life for someone of his blood Who has to go through such horrors as a redemption. I don’t think it says why he was disowned. Does anybody know?

I think it's normal to have a will prepared years before you die, though Galen's uncle did know he was dying. Onita thinks about his family all those years, but he was unable to obtain information. When he learned of Galen's existence, he asked Rowan right away. The reason Galen could not make it to Voulhire before his uncle's death was because of the lengthy time to find Galen and the immigration policy, as Rowan explained to Galen later.

First, I don't think there's anything wrong with occassionally speaking of death or implying someone's going to die by speaking about an inheritance since death is a part of our lives. I would be more concerned that speaking about the inheritance would imply that the heirs are eager for the person's death.

If possible, I think Galen's uncle should have told him about the inheritance before he died. I think there's nothing wrong with discussing inheritance to some extent before the owner dies. In my family's history, the person will ask their children/heirs what they would like or is special to them (furniture, etc.) and then the owner can have the pleasure of giving it away while they are still alive. Of course, this all depends on how good the family's relationship is....

That being said, Galen Onita didn't have the chance to tell his family before he died. Originally, he didn't have the money to send for his family, and he wasn't sure if they were even alive or if they would want him. Since Galen Onita did not have a way to communicate with his family, it seems like it was Galen's grandmother's fault for not letting him and his family know that he had an uncle.

Inheritance can be a difficult thing to discuss before death. It forces people to realize the finality of mortality, but if it can help to lessen after death squabbles with inheritance by family members, especially if they don't get along. The use of the inheritance to track a relative down is not a good way to find long lost family because anyone can come up claiming right to the inheritance.

Once Galen's uncle had found him, I can see the usefulness of telling him about his inheritance. However, I also understand why he didn't. If you are a lonely person who is wanting to connect with a long lost relative, you might hesitate to tell them about the inheritance in fear of them taking it and leaving. Telling someone, even a relative, you hardly know about an inheritance that size has the possibility to taint the remaining of the relationship.

The Lands of the Princes have been at war with each other for roughly 20 years. The third book demonstrates just how dangerous some of the forces serving the Emperor of Lullabies are. To complicate matters further, the great-uncle became estranged from his family -- and he didn't know Galen even existed until shortly before his own death.

Yes, it would have been great if he had been able to contact Galen about his inheritance earlier, but there were just too many obstacles.

I think inheritance should be discussed while the principal is still alive. They get to decide or help with the decision making at the very least. In Galen's case, in my opinion, Onita should have brought Bray in earlier and taught him the art, taking over would have been way easy. I'll say its good timing he even got him at that precise time.

I think it depends on the family. Some people don't mind talking about inheritance before their demise while others do. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

To give a very short answer to this: Galen isn't entitled to any inheritance from Onita. He just got lucky.

Higher25 wrote: ↑07 Oct 2020, 23:42 I think inheritance should be discussed while the principal is still alive. They get to decide or help with the decision making at the very least. In Galen's case, in my opinion, Onita should have brought Bray in earlier and taught him the art, taking over would have been way easy. I'll say its good timing he even got him at that precise time.

I agree. If possible, it is best if the owner gets to discuss with the heirs what he or she wants. I think it would be better to this prior to their death, rather than letting a written will dictate their wishes. While it would have been better if Onita had discussed his inheritance with Bray before his death, which as you point out would have made the start of Galen Bray's blacksmithing career much smoother, Onita didn't even know if his sister ever had children. Who knows though, perhaps it's better than Onita didn't teach Bray since the book hinted that Onita refused to work with anything other than steel. Maybe Galen would have only worked with steel and never bought the stone Rowan found for him.