When you take Hiram's age and then add 12, you get 4 less than twice Allyson's age. If Hiram is 40 years old, how old is Allyson? Let's think first. Chain of thought:
If Hiram's age is 40, when you add 12, his age becomes 40 + 12 = 52. If you add 4 from Hiram's age after adding twelve to his age, you get 52 + 4 = 56, which is twice Allyson's age. Allyson's age is 56 / 2 = 28 years.
Therefore, the answer is 28.