About a decade ago, when my grandmother passed away, my aunt, who had lived in another city most of her life, gave up any rights to her inheritance, even though she was older than my mother, simply because my mom had been her primary caregiver for many years. A noble move! Not everyone does that nowadays, by the way.
For example, the user u/InteractionKey2249, the author of our story today, after years of caring for her elderly grandfather, had to face her entitled elder brother, who wanted nothing to do with the old gentleman in life, but claimed half of his fortune after his funeral. Anyway, let’s just cut to the chase.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post was mostly raised by her grandfather, and then she did her best to take care of him during his last years
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The author’s elder brother, however, left literally after coming of age and almost vanished from their lives
Image credits: InteractionKey2249
Image credits: andreas / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The guy posted pics of himself from various glamorous places from time to time, but never showed up at home
Image credits: InteractionKey2249
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / Freepik (not the actual photo)
He showed up, however, at the grandpa’s funeral – and demanded half of his fortune
Image credits: InteractionKey2249
After learning that the will claims the author is the sole heir, he got mad and accused her of manipulation
So, the Original poster (OP) tells us that she is 21 years old, and her grandpa recently passed away at the age of 89. Many years ago, when her biological father left, her mom had to work several jobs to support herself and the kids, and her grandpa essentially took on the entire burden of raising both the author and her elder brother (now 29).
However, when the brother came of age, he practically disappeared, apparently not wanting to support his grandpa himself. “No calls, no visits, no birthday cards,” the author recalls. Grandfather was constantly asking about him, but there was no news from him. Only occasional photos from Dubai, Ibiza, and Vegas appeared on social media. Well, in the last years of his life, it was the OP who looked after the grandpa.
She tried to make sure that the old man’s last years were filled with warmth and attention, so when he passed away peacefully, she was awarded with the will, where our heroine was listed as the only heir. It wasn’t a huge fortune – just a house and some savings. But how surprised the OP was when her brother showed up at the funeral!
Tanned, smiling, smug attitude and all that – the first thing he asked was what his grandfather left him. When the author said that her grandpa left everything to her, he replied that they were all one family and that he should get half of the inheritance. Moreover, some relatives also agreed with his demands and now reproach the author for being “selfish”. And she, in turn, decided to seek support online.
Image credits: shurkin_son / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Well, by law, the person providing care usually doesn’t have priority advantages over other heirs – unless, of course, there were a number of circumstances (which, however, weren’t actual in the described situation). So, if there was no will, then the author’s older brother, alas, despite all these years of neglect, would’ve every right to claim the inheritance. But there’s a will.
The fact that there is a will changes almost everything. Now, the original poster only has moral doubts – and, obviously, her brother is trying to influence the opinion of other relatives so that they can convince the girl of the need to “share” the fortune with him. Especially since youngsters often succumb to pressure from older family members.
People in the comments almost unanimously supported the author, claiming that she did everything absolutely right, and that, in fact, her grandpa, making her his sole heir, didn’t actually punish her brother, but, on the contrary, rewarded her for her attitude and help. “Your Grandpa gave you the inheritance because he wanted to,” someone wrote in the comments. “Honor his wishes.”
As for the relatives who sided with the OP’s brother, here the responders simply urge our heroine to ignore people who, by and large, didn’t care much about her grandfather when he was alive, or about her. “Family isn’t just about DNA, it’s about who shows up when it counts,” another person added quite wisely. So do you, our dear readers, think so too?
Most commenters sided with the woman, urging her to not care about others’ opinions – just honor her late grandpa’s wishes
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