Gratuity allocated to father: "distribution"

[rolt968]

Apologies, I have been meaning to post this for months:

 

I have come across a number of Registers Soldiers' Effects entries for unmarried Scottish soldiers, where there was no will or appointed executor and the gratuity was allocated to the father with "distribution" or "for distribution" in the last column.

 

I have been interpreting this as follows:

Under Scots Law, if there was no will, the gratuity should be allocated to the parents and the siblings (i.e. no single inheriting next of kin). Usually (or at least frequently) this results in a list of recipients: The parents (usually represented by the father) and the siblings.

In the case of the gratuity allocated to the father only + "distribution" or "for distribution"  the whole gratuity was allocated to the father who was expected (instructed?) to distribute it appropriately between himself, wife and the soldier's siblings.

 

Do other people agree?

RM