This situation presented the Hanau family with a dilemma: In this debate, Margaret favoured the primogeniture solution, in which her son would inherit the whole county.

She managed to convince most of her relatives, and some or the more important organizations among the county's subjects, including the four cities of Hanau, Windecken, Babenhausen and Steinau, as well as her grandson's vassals.

In January 1458, a family pact was sealed, in which Philip the Elder received the parts of the county south of the river Main, i.e. the districts of Babenhausen and Schaafheim and Hanau's share of Umstadt.

The image at the top of this article is a detail from an altar piece in the church of St. Mary in Hanau.

This altar piece was commissioned by her son, Philip the Younger, for the souls of his parents, and was painted c. 1485/1490.