Our series "The Science of Siblings" last year was immensely popular, tackling questions that many a sibling has pondered. How do you get siblings to be nicer to each other? Why is it that siblings may have weird traits in common? How do siblings remember — and make peace with — childhood traumas? There was one fascinating sibling story that we came upon after the series concluded — so here it is now!

As parents age, siblings may face tough decisions about who will take care of them if they become infirm or frail.

And then there's the matter of how the estate will be divided up when parents die.

To say that disagreements crop up is perhaps an understatement.

This potential for family friction has given birth to various customs. In the past, the eldest son often

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