This Redditor never had a good relationship with her dad. But when he died from cancer, she was surprised to discover he left her hundreds of thousands!
A Sad Childhood
OP is a 21-year-old who had a “pretty s***ty childhood.” Her dad was a drug addict when she was born, and when she was three, he just up and left her with her mom.
She had an older half-sister, but she “was not a pleasant person to be around.” OP’s mom was also busy working all the time, so she always felt like she was really alone.
Her Mom’s Passing
Then, OP’s mom died in 2011. When she did, her grandmother took her in, and things started to get better for her.
She said, “Don’t get me wrong. I miss my mom every day, but my grandma provided a much healthier environment for me.”
Seven Years Later
In 2018, OP’s dad contacted her grandmother and told her that he wanted to get in touch with OP. However, OP shut the idea down; she wouldn’t even see him let alone talk to him.
A Renewed Man
Later, OP discovered that her dad “had turned his life around.” He’d gotten married and had a new family but never had any other kids.
OP wrote, “He wanted to get to know me because he found out he had stage five prostate cancer, but I didn’t want anything to do with him. I never contacted him back.”
Her Stepmother
Six months before this story was posted, OP’s dad died, and she only found out because his current wife, her stepmother, contacted her about the inheritance. It turns out that her dad left everything to her, though it was “not a life-changing amount.”
OP said, “By ‘not a life-changing amount,’ I mean that I’m still on the same track I was about. I’m still going to college for the same degree, just debt free. I’m still planning on buying the same house and investment properties, just with smaller loans. It will improve my life so much, but I’m still going to work and do the same thing I was gonna do before.”
Hundreds of Thousands Richer
OP’s dad made her the beneficiary of his $100,000 life insurance. He also gave her his savings which amounted to $35,000.
His house could also sell for around $400,000! All this now belonged to OP.
Enough to Get By
The money would definitely not change her life drastically. However, she could have college paid for, buy a house and some investment properties, and still have “a nice nest egg to fall back on in case of hard times.”
OP said her stepmother gave her the information for the lawyer handling everything.
Realizing the Problems She’ll Face
OP soon realized that his dad’s wife never planned on working again. She quit her job when she moved in with OP’s dad and never worked a day since.
Now, her stepmother is trying to get her to hand over the inheritance she just got. She wrote, “She was telling me that it would be wrong to keep all of the money, especially since I never made up with him, and that I needed to split it four ways so that she and my ‘siblings’ could have an equal share.”
No Way!
OP adamantly refused. She told her to “pound sand because he abandoned her for years, and she got all the best parts of her dad, and all I got was the inheritance,” and then she hung up.
After their conversation, OP contacted the lawyer, who said everything was clear.
What He Left Them
The lawyer told OP that her dad left his wife and her kids $100 each, but that’s it. He left everything else for OP.
So, now, OP is starting to feel bad.
No Home
In an edit, OP added that she found out her dad’s current wife and her kids were living in his house but were not on the title.
She said, “I’m planning on hiring a property management company and writing up an official lease. I don’t want to make them homeless, and I’m not planning on selling the house right away, but I don’t want to make any mistakes and lose the house by having her live in it, thus the property management company.”
Her Paternal Grandmother
OP then tried reaching out to her paternal grandmother, and when she did, she found out she “hated” her stepmom.
Her dad wanted to reach out to OP a lot sooner than he did, but his wife kept “convincing him not to,” saying that if he reached out to anyone during his “junkie” days, he would relapse!
Not Married
OP also discovered that her dad didn’t marry her stepmom. They had a ceremony six years prior, but they didn’t sign any marriage licenses because they thought OP’s mom was still alive, and therefore, her dad was technically still married to her.
She shared, “She didn’t want him to reach out for a divorce because, again, he might have relapsed. And the nail in the coffin was that she was almost certainly cheating on him. I don’t want to get into all the drama about that whole thing, but the only reason he didn’t throw her out is that she got rid of the proof, and he didn’t have any way to confirm it was more than s**ting for years. Basically, it was a dysfunctional ‘marriage,’ and by the end of everything, he didn’t have the energy to deal with her, so he just let her be.”
A Confusing State of Affairs
OP believes her stepmom never wanted her to be part of their “perfect family.” She thinks the logic behind this was that if her dad had reached out to her mom for a divorce, he’d want to reach out to OP, too.
Given this, she asked, “Would I be the a**hole if I didn’t split the money? I mean, my dad never did anything for me, so this last grand gesture is really all I’ll have.”
Insights From Redditors
The community advised OP to do what she wanted with the money, which was 100% hers.
This Redditor said, “Not the a**hole. You don’t know his wife. You don’t owe her anything. If your father left them each $100, he knew what he was doing. That inheritance is yours. Good luck with your future.” Another commented, “He left those tiny amounts so they’d never be able to contest the will. He knew what he was doing and did it on purpose. You owe them nothing. Not the a**hole.”
What would you do if you were in OP’s shoes? Do you think OP’s dad’s current wife deserved the money?
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This post first appeared as She Refused to Give Her Estranged Dad’s New Family a Cent of the $535,000 Inheritance She Received. Now They’re Furious He Chose Her Over Them and Started Guilt-Tripping Her! on Quote Ambition.
