This 17-Year-Old's Family Is Calling Him Selfish For Not Using His $500,000 Inheritance To Help Pay For His Step-Siblings' College Tuition
Blended family dynamics can get tricky, and while some view their step-siblings as their blood relatives, others don't necessarily feel that bond.
That seems to be the case in this story about a 17-year-old who is set to receive a large inheritance from his late mother when he turns 18. Unfortunately, his father and stepmother recently found out about the money, and are now pressuring him to share it with his step-siblings.
Here's the full story in 17-year-old u/NothingThick4824's own words:
"I, a 17-year-old male, will be coming into a large amount of money when I turn 18. This is money that my mom, who died when I was 7, and my maternal grandparents accumulated for me since I was born. I won't say the exact amount, but it's between $500K and $1 million."
"The reason it's that much is my grandparents ran a successful business for many years, and they sold it 18 months ago, and all money from that sale went to me. They kept none of it."
"My grandparents have control over all of it currently. Before my mom died, she left them in charge of the account where she was saving. She was married to my dad at the time, but had wanted to secure my future in case anything happened, like dad remarrying and having additional kids."
"She didn't want to run the risk that once she was gone, her money could be used for someone who wasn't her kid. My dad knew some money had been saved for me by mom, but was never aware of how much or little it was. He also had no idea my grandparents continued saving for me."
"My grandparents told me about the money over a year ago. They wanted me to prepare for my future and to know I would have so many options because of the money available to me."
"They also mentioned it never bringing back my mom, but could alleviate the burden of becoming an adult."
"So here's the deal. My dad did remarry. He has a stepdaughter (16) and a son (5) with his current wife."
"They are not wealthy, and my dad's wife has prepared her daughter to try and work hard for scholarships and financial aid to get into college because she wants to study to become a lawyer. My dad had similar conversations with me and had sat me down a few times since I learned of the money's existence to figure out what our plans would be."
"Eventually, I told him it wasn't going to be a big concern, and I told him about the money."
"He was like wtf, and then he told his wife, and they apparently went wtf together and told me that I could be gracious and split the money when I get it between the three of us, and give the other two a chance to have a decent helping hand with college."
"I told them I would not be sharing it because it was created by my family, not theirs. Dad's wife argued that it would be incredibly selfish to take such a large amount of money and blow it all on myself when I have two siblings who could also benefit in major ways from it."
"My dad told me even giving some of it to them, not a full split, but some money, money I have left at the end, would be amazing and would help my family out a lot. I told him I wasn't going to."
"They are SO not happy with me. They told me that being selfish with this is not a good way to be. My dad is also pissed that he continued saving for me and dividing things equally between the three of us when I have so much I'll have access to in a few months. Am I the asshole?"
People rushed to the comments to weigh in, with user Artistic_Tough5005 writing: "Not the asshole. Their reaction is exactly why your mom set it up how she did!"
"She knew your dad and well enough to know the money would not be yours and used for children that are not hers."
"Not the asshole," user Outrageous_Shoe_1450 agreed. "For future reference, DON'T TELL ANYBODY ELSE ABOUT YOUR MONEY!"
"If it’s not already the case, open up a bank account at a different bank from the one your father uses," user lemon_charlie advised.
"No matter how you proceed, you need to protect the investment in your future your mother and grandparents have made because you know your father will want to access it."
"If Dad has put aside some money over the years and has, say, $50K in an account to pay for your college, I would see nothing wrong with shifting that $50K over to the other kids," user EnderBurger wrote, proposing a compromise.
"OP has half a million available, so OP's college is taken care of, and that $50K can be used to help the other kids."
Yikes. What do you think about this situation? Have you ever had a sticky situation involving inheritance money? Let us know in the comments below.
