Honorverse

"It was," Honor agreed. "Beowulf's gravity's higher than Manticore's, but it's still about ten percent lower than Sphinx's. Daddy was more than ready to have me tubed, only Mother wouldn't hear of it. He was still in the Service at the time, and they didn't even have the cash to fit the house with grav plates, either, but she's a stubborn little thing." FOD

A question ... given her family background didn't Honor's mother have inherited wealth?

neoauro wrote:"It was," Honor agreed. "Beowulf's gravity's higher than Manticore's, but it's still about ten percent lower than Sphinx's. Daddy was more than ready to have me tubed, only Mother wouldn't hear of it. He was still in the Service at the time, and they didn't even have the cash to fit the house with grav plates, either, but she's a stubborn little thing." FOD

A question ... given her family background didn't Honor's mother have inherited wealth?

I am not sure that we know. Honor's grandparents are still living, I believe; so it is possible none of the ancestral wealth has trickled down. But it is also very possible that her mother has a trust fund that she refused to touch. In the first book, OBS, her parents were both working on salaries from a company owned by Hauptman; rather than at a center that they owned personally.

It may simply be that Honor's mother took it as a challenge.

neoauro wrote:"It was," Honor agreed. "Beowulf's gravity's higher than Manticore's, but it's still about ten percent lower than Sphinx's. Daddy was more than ready to have me tubed, only Mother wouldn't hear of it. He was still in the Service at the time, and they didn't even have the cash to fit the house with grav plates, either, but she's a stubborn little thing." FOD

A question ... given her family background didn't Honor's mother have inherited wealth?

Hello neoauro, welcome to the forum!

Yes, the Benton-Ramirez y Chou side of the family is filthy rich. But from everything we've seen, Allison specifically did not want to touch that money or follow the career that her parents expected of her. We weren't told exactly how this happened, but it might have been around the time she moved with Alfred back to Manticore. She agreed to raise Honor as a Harrington, not as a Benton-Ramirez y Chou.

It seems Honor had very little contact with her maternal grandparents. The only person whom she had contact with was her Uncle Jacques, Allison's twin, but it seems like was also the only one on that side of the family to have travelled to Manticore to see his sister and meet his niece.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:Hello neoauro, welcome to the forum!

Yes, the Benton-Ramirez y Chou side of the family is filthy rich. But from everything we've seen, Allison specifically did not want to touch that money or follow the career that her parents expected of her. We weren't told exactly how this happened, but it might have been around the time she moved with Alfred back to Manticore. She agreed to raise Honor as a Harrington, not as a Benton-Ramirez y Chou.

It seems Honor had very little contact with her maternal grandparents. The only person whom she had contact with was her Uncle Jacques, Allison's twin, but it seems like was also the only one on that side of the family to have travelled to Manticore to see his sister and meet his niece.

And David Weber mentioned (IIRC at a Con panel) that before the planned timeline changed, with Honor now surviving the Battle of Manticore, he'd already visualized a scene, after Honor's death where Alison and her mother finally reunite. Honor's grandmother realized how much the break between Alison and the rest of the family (twin brother excepted) had cost; that she'd never even gotten to meet Honor and now she never would.

(Though why that reconciliation didn't happen when everyone thought Honor had been executed by the Peeps I'm not clear on)

So for whatever reason, whether by choice, because she'd been cut off from the family moneys, or simply that with her parents still living she hadn't yet inherited anything, it seems Alison couldn't or wouldn't use her family wealth. (Or at least not for just the personal comfort of controlling the gravity within her house)

I recall someone else at least somewhat hinting at the same concerns. I didn't understand it then, and I don't now. I didn't comment on it then because I thought perhaps I was raised a bit differently.*

At any rate, if one or both of Alison's parents are still alive, then why would Alison be due an inheritance? Prolong puts an inheritance quite a ways away. Granted, one of my friends who is afraid he may be offed for the inheritance -- because it seems to be on the rise in this unworthy generation of slackers -- may have a point that in the HV prolong may have become a motive or recipe for disaster. Having said that, I doubt Alison is cut from that type of cloth.

Also, the only thing the parents are traditionally responsive for is a stellar education. Check. And footing the bill on the wedding. Check? They aren't responsible for such luxuries like your counter-grav, your microwave, or your toaster.

But, any suitor for a daughter that is worth the father's permission to marry his daughter, is not looking for a hand-out to take care of said daughter along with the cost of a big screen tv. If you are filthy rich in the Honorverse, that nest egg can quickly dwindle if the tradition and obligation is to take care of every one of your kids AFTER they marry, along with the toys and joys of the household. You can have lots of kids in the Honorverse via prolong.

How would that conversation go anyway?

"Honey, I'm going to write mother to send us money for counter-grav."

"You'll do no such thing. You're my responsibility now. If they didn't think I was a dead-beat then, they certainly would now. Besides, it would cost more just to wire the money for the damn thing."

Also, who says that Alison wasn't given a nice sum of money as a wedding gift? Or better yet, that she didn't have some form of a dowry, that was quickly spent on moving expenses. Or in this case, and much more costly, relocation expenses across the galaxy, which would include such things as, well, a starter home? Even if that starter home didn't include counter-grav or a two-car garage. Meaning, if Alison and Alfred chose to remain where her family's wealth was located, instead of traipsing about the galaxy, they may have been offered one of the family's properties.

*At any rate, am I missing something?

Late addendum to the above.

This all hinges on whether I'm correct that Alison's mother has even received HER inheritance because of the effectiveness of that generation of prolong. Because even though the older prolong treatment may not have been as kind to Alison's grandmother, would have been kinder to those who stood to inherit.

I believe that Alison parents helped develop prolong and were among the earliest recipients. also while 1st gen prolong could be administered later then the more recent versions the cut off is still around 30. so Alison's grand parents are very unlikely to have ever received prolong.

there was some mention, probably in flag of exile, that Miranda Lafollolet was just ever so slightly too old for her body accept it, when Grayson join the Alliance and I believe she was ion her late twenties/early thirties..

prolong is so common that we often forgot that it is still a relatively new thing, having been around about a century.

cthia wrote:I recall someone else at least somewhat hinting at the same concerns. I didn't understand it then, and I don't now. I didn't comment on it then because I thought perhaps I was raised a bit differently.*

At any rate, if one or both of Alison's parents are still alive, then why would Alison be due an inheritance? Prolong puts an inheritance quite a ways away. Granted, one of my friends who is afraid he may be offed for the inheritance -- because it seems to be on the rise in this unworthy generation of slackers -- may have a point that in the HV prolong may have become a motive or recipe for disaster. Having said that, I doubt Alison is cut from that type of cloth.

Also, the only thing the parents are traditionally responsive for is a stellar education. Check. And footing the bill on the wedding. Check? They aren't responsible for such luxuries like your counter-grav, your microwave, or your toaster.

*** snip ***

*At any rate, am I missing something?

I have read (there is certainly no way that I could know from personal experience) that among the ultra-rich it is common to set up trust funds for the various descendants as a way to get around estate taxes. So that would depend on the tax structure of Beowulf; but as I said earlier it may be that Alison simply refused to use any of that advantage when they went off to live on Sphinx. The couple were certainly working for a living as of OBS.

tlb wrote:

cthia wrote:I recall someone else at least somewhat hinting at the same concerns. I didn't understand it then, and I don't now. I didn't comment on it then because I thought perhaps I was raised a bit differently.*

At any rate, if one or both of Alison's parents are still alive, then why would Alison be due an inheritance? Prolong puts an inheritance quite a ways away. Granted, one of my friends who is afraid he may be offed for the inheritance -- because it seems to be on the rise in this unworthy generation of slackers -- may have a point that in the HV prolong may have become a motive or recipe for disaster. Having said that, I doubt Alison is cut from that type of cloth.

Also, the only thing the parents are traditionally responsive for is a stellar education. Check. And footing the bill on the wedding. Check? They aren't responsible for such luxuries like your counter-grav, your microwave, or your toaster.

*** snip ***

*At any rate, am I missing something?

I have read (there is certainly no way that I could know from personal experience) that among the ultra-rich it is common to set up trust funds for the various descendants as a way to get around estate taxes. So that would depend on the tax structure of Beowulf; but as I said earlier it may be that Alison simply refused to use any of that advantage when they went off to live on Sphinx. The couple were certainly working for a living as of OBS.

Even if it is a tax shelter on Beowulf, you can never know if it will continue to be so. But trust funds ARE a thing. However, the bottom line would be the same for Alison because even trust funds are not paid out until the time of death. That's why they are called "Trusts."

I've known parents to give percentages of the trust at various times before death, but that amount is penalized for early dispersal. Besides, trust funds are simply tax-sheltered inheritances anyway.

There is also a possibility of a certain amount being doled out yearly in gifts to reduce the inheritance tax. But that is capped at a paltry amount that doesn't depend on the value of the inheritance. In the UK I think that amount is capped at 3000. So, Alison could have been getting a yearly check that may have been enough to pay part of her own tax obligation and maybe enough left over for a hamburger or two. Inheritance taxes can get messy.