Fairy Tales & Legacy: What Storytelling Can Teach Us About Estate Planning

I love fairy tales. Who doesn’t? They operate on a reliable set of rules, usually with a clear-cut karma system (purity and good always prevail, and the old lady who asks you for coin or food is always some kind of fairy in disguise) and reading them often feels like being told a story while you’re tucked into bed. 

The Pink Fairy Book edited Andrew Lang and his wife Leonora Blanche Alleyne

When I was younger, my mom gave me her old beat-up copy of The Pink Fairy Book, a classic collection of fairy tales brought together by Andrew Lang and his wife Leonora Blanche Alleyne, first printed in 1890. I discovered then that fairy tales aren’t just comforting and formulaic—they can also be dark and absolutely bizarre. Oral storytelling, after all, developed to pass on generational wisdom. We use stories to talk about difficult subjects in simple terms: follow the path when you go into the woods, or don’t talk to strangers, or show hospitality to people in need. Fairy tales might not always have simple, straightforward morals, but like many stories, they often reflect an abstracted form of our lives and belief systems.

Obviously, we’ve taken some big strides from the world these fairy tales originated in. But there’s still a lot of complicated or frightening subjects that we struggle to talk about—and a big one is death. One of the most difficult parts about estate planning is actually getting around to talking about it, thanks to procrastination and discomfort with the subject. There’s never a good time to talk about mortality, and there’s never a perfect way to discuss it, either. 

Let’s look at one fairy tale about family dynamics around inheritance and see how it applies to our modern-day lives. 

The Three Sons

This is a Korean story from Korean Children’s Favourite Folk Tales, collected by Peter Hyun and retold on Faith Mudge’s Wordpress. In this story, a father proactively uses estate planning principles to distribute his limited possessions among his three sons upon his death. By clearly designating beneficiaries—the people who will inherit his property—he ensures each son receives specific items: the oldest son receives the grinding stones of a hand mill, the middle son inherits a bowl and bamboo stick, and the youngest son is given a drum. Although modest, these assets represent the father's entire estate. This thoughtful distribution illustrates an essential aspect of estate planning: clearly outlining who receives what to support family harmony and future success.

The three brothers mourn their father and set off into the world with their newfound inheritance. They agree to go their separate ways, establish themselves in the world, and meet up again in ten years to compare their lives. 

The first brother travels for a day and then sleeps in a tree overnight, afraid of the dangers he might come across traveling alone. In the middle of the night, he’s woken by a gang of bandits arguing about the division of their stolen goods. Inspiration strikes, and he shakes the branches and grinds his millstones together to fake an oncoming storm. The bandits aren’t very bright and run away to find shelter, leaving the eldest brother to make off with their stolen goods. The oldest brother is now rich, thanks to his creative use of his inherited tools.

In his travels, the second brother comes across an undead goblin in the night. To protect himself, the brother claims that he, too, is some kind of undead spirit. When the goblin is uncertain, he shows off his bowl and bamboo stick, pretending that the former is his skull and the latter is a bony arm. The goblin’s pretty easily satisfied, and decides to bring him along to steal the soul of a young woman in a nearby village, leaving the woman’s soul with the middle brother and scampering off into the night. 

In the morning, the village mourns the dead woman, and suddenly, an idea strikes the middle brother. He claims to be a miracle worker or some kind of doctor, and holds the woman’s soul up underneath her nose so it can re-enter her body. His unique method works, and the village celebrates to find the woman has been miraculously brought back to life. Soon after, the middle brother is married to the young woman. 

Finally, the third brother brings his inheritance—the drums—up into the mountain, playing a rhythm to keep himself company. A tiger notices his song and comes out of the woods to dance along, and the youngest brother, fearing for his life, keeps drumming as he walks. The tiger and the brother come to a village, and the villagers assume they’re a traveling act and shower them with money. News of this wonderful act reaches the king, who is so delighted by the tiger’s dance that he offers the brother his daughter’s hand in marriage. Of course, the brother accepts this bizarre and wonderful twist of fate.

After the agreed-upon ten years, the brothers meet again and embrace. Rather than competing with each other, they share their stories of good fortune and visit the graves of their parents. Maybe they discuss how they’ll pass on their things to their children and family, like their father did—after all, they’ve learned about the benefits of planning ahead. And after their adventures, all three of them live happily ever after. 

Real Life

What a strange, delightful story, right? In my opinion, this is a father who prepared and created a solid estate plan. He didn’t have a lot to go around—in contrast to modern estates, which are typically worth between $50,000 to $250,000 once they’re settled—but he still knew that preparation was key to preventing conflict and further difficult situations for his family. In real life, an estate without a will takes five months longer to settle than one with an uncontested will, but an uncontested will can take even longer. Even with a will, settling your estate takes 16 months on average, though probate can be avoided with a revocable living trust. One way to prevent conflict during this process is clear communication and record-keeping, another reason that talking about your will is key. 

Another difference between most old-fashioned stories about inheritance and our modern day is the presence of women in inheritance law. These three brothers are, of course, all men. But today, women control 32% of the world’s wealth, and that number is only going up. Inclusive estate planning is a necessity in today’s world, focusing on disenfranchised communities like women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community, and it’s one key element we’re focusing on at Legado. 

Of course, his sons achieved success through morally dubious means, as fairy tale characters often do. Although their father ensured there wouldn’t be any family strife, he might’ve additionally guaranteed each son’s honesty, honor, and ethics through additional planning. For instance, if the father had created a trust, he would have been able to ensure his sons proved their trustworthiness and responsibility before inheriting his estate. 

Fairy tales have a lot of interesting stories to tell us, and any movement toward normalizing discussions of estate planning and death is important. Maybe old stories like this one can help us open these conversations and get us thinking—and even talking—about planning our estate.