A teenager has revealed she plans to keep a huge inheritance despite pleas from her mother and stepfather to share some of the money with her siblings.
The 17-year-old took to Reddit’s popular Am I The A**hole (AITA) subreddit to ask people for advice about her situation.
‘AITA for refusing to share my huge inheritance with my stepbrothers?’ she asked.
He went on to explain that he had just discovered that his father left him “a bunch of money in a trust.”
A teenager took to Reddit to ask if she would be wrong to keep a generous inheritance for herself, instead of sharing it with her cash-strapped mother, stepfather, and stepbrothers.
His biological father had died of cancer a decade earlier (archive image)
‘Like it was such a crazy amount that I didn’t really believe it at first. But it’s true,’ she said.
His father, who had died of cancer a decade earlier, had inherited the wealth of two of his uncles.
‘My parents were separated but not legally divorced when my father became ill or died. But they did not live together or become a couple for a year,” she explained.
Her mother, who found out about the money after reading the letter, initially insisted on going with the original poster (OP) to meet with a lawyer and it eventually came to light that the mother expected her to share some of the funds with her stepbrothers. .
“When my mother found out about the money, she told her husband and suddenly money became a very sensitive topic,” explained the OP, who won’t even be able to access the money until she’s 19.
‘My mother and her husband want me to share the money with my stepbrothers (14, 8 and 7 years old).
‘The money is enough and even if I pay for university and buy a house I would have money left. The trust, I was told, also earns interest, something my father had intentionally created.’
He went on to explain that his mother and stepfather had “struggled financially for years” thanks to his custody battle with the mother of one of his children, as well as the youngest son having “medical issues.”
‘Between everything, money was scarce. We live paycheck to paycheck and work to make my life a little more comfortable,” the teenager explained.
But before this we didn’t have savings for college or anything like that. My mom and her husband drained their own bank account to keep a roof over our heads.
‘All of this has been put to me as a good reason why I should do this. My mom told me that she was selfish for Dad to leave everything alone for my future and that he should have thought about raising me too.
“She told me that I might not call her husband dad or her children my brothers, but we are a family and this family has been through so much together and we have fought for so long, that it would be very kind and generous for me.” to do this.
‘I told him it’s not like I can access the money now. She said no, but when I do, I should open accounts for my three stepbrothers so they have a better chance of going to college and, if not, a chance to get help getting started in life.
‘Despite all his attempts to convince me, I said no. I told them I wasn’t going to share the money. My mom was SO angry. But it was nothing compared to how angry her husband was. They told me to stop being selfish and start acting compassionately.’
She then asked Reddit to weigh in on whether her decision to keep her inheritance made her a jerk.
Commentators widely agreed that the teen was NTA, meaning “not the jerk.”
Commentators overwhelmingly considered her NTA, that is, “not the jerk.”
‘NTA’. So your mother’s new husband is angry because you don’t give money to his and your mother’s children? This money came from your father. That wasn’t his father, it was yours. This is who your father wanted the money to go to. Explain to your mother that if they are going to punish you for doing exactly what your dead father wanted, they can go fly a kite,’ reasoned one commenter.
‘Mom should also ask her new husband to stay out of it. He is not your father.
‘NTA’. “You did not choose how your father established the inheritance, and they are not his children,” noted a second.
A third made the following argument: ‘NTA: If your mom and stepdad were good parents, great. If you want to help them, you can do it. But you are not obligated at all and it is not their money.
Your father intended for you to have it.
‘You don’t say how much it is, but even if it finances a house and a university, that doesn’t make you rich. Simply comfortable.
‘Money runs out quickly once you start spending it. And it does it even faster if you give it as a gift.
‘Do with him what you want. But don’t do anything with him just out of guilt. If you share it, it should be something you WANT to do. You say you don’t want to. So do not do it.
“Suppose your mom and stepdad might not support you more than the bare minimum from now on, but that’s okay, that in itself helps the other kids.”