The twin puzzle

Puzzle

In the exuberance of his joy at the prospect of becoming a happy father in his old age, O'Shaugnessy vowed to settle two-thirds of his estate upon "the boy" and one-third upon the mother, but in case "the boy" should be a girl, then two-thirds of the estate should go to the mother and one-third to the daughter; when it developed, however, that the boy was a twin, which made it necessary to provide for both a boy and a girl, as well as the mother, O'Shaugnessy's mind was not in a state to decide upon the proper way to carry out the terms of his promise. What do our friends, especially the members of the legal profession, who have shown so much interest in these problems, say should be the proper division of O'Shaugnessy's estate?

Answer

References

• Loyd, Sam [1914]. in Loyd, Sam, Jr.: Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles Tricks and Conundrums (in English). New York: Lamb Publishing company, page 52.