A teenager has revealed she plans to keep a large inheritance for herself, despite pleas from her mother and stepfather to share some of the money with her siblings.
The 17-year-old girl 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 vast inheritance with my step-siblings?” she asked.
She went on to explain that she had just found out that her father had left her “a lot of money in a trust.”
A teen took to Reddit to ask if she was wrong for keeping a generous inheritance for herself – instead of sharing it with her cash-strapped mother, stepfather and step-siblings.
Her biological father had died of cancer ten years earlier (stock image)
‘Like it’s such a crazy amount that I didn’t really believe it at first. But it’s true,” she said.
Her father, who had died of cancer ten years earlier, had himself inherited the wealth from two of his uncles.
‘My parents were separated, but not legally separated, when my father became ill/died. But they haven’t lived together or as a couple for a year,” she further explained.
Her mother, who learned of the money after reading the letter, initially insisted on coming with the original poster (OP) to meet with a lawyer – and eventually it came to light that the mother expected her to would share some of the money with her step-siblings.
“When my mom heard about the money, she told her husband and suddenly it became a very sensitive subject,” explained the OP, who only had access to the money at age 19.
‘My mother and her husband want me to share the money with my step-siblings (14, 8 and 7).
‘The money is enough, even if I paid for my studies and bought a house, I would have money left over. Because of the way the trust works, I was told it also earns interest, which my father set up on purpose.”
She went on to explain that her mother and stepfather “struggled financially for years” thanks to his custody battle with the mothers of one of his children and because the youngest child had “medical issues.”
“Between everything, money was tight. We live paycheck to paycheck and I work to make my own life a little more comfortable,” the teen explained.
‘But we didn’t have any student fees or anything like that before that. My mother and her husband emptied their own bank account to keep a roof over our heads.
“This has all been put forward as a good reason why I should do this. My mother told me that it was selfish of father to put it all aside just for my future and that he should have also thought about raising me.
“She told me that I might not call her husband my father or his children my brothers and sisters, but that we are a family and that this family has been through so much together and that we have fought for so long, that it is so good and generous for me would be to do this.
‘I told her it’s not like I can access the money now. She said no, but if I do that, I should open accounts for my three step-siblings so they have a better chance at college and, if not, the chance of getting help starting their lives.
“Despite all their efforts to get me to do it, I said no. I told them I wouldn’t share the money. My mother was SO angry. But it was nothing compared to how angry her husband was. They told me to stop being selfish and start acting with compassion.”
She then asked Reddit to assess whether her decision to keep her inheritance to herself made her an asshole.
Commenters generally agreed that the teen was an NTA, i.e. ‘not the asshole’
Commentators found her NTA overwhelming – i.e. ‘not the hole.’
‘NTA. So your mom’s new husband is mad that you don’t give money to his kids with your mom? This money came from your father. That wasn’t their father, that was yours. This is where your father wanted the money to go. “Explain to your mother that if they’re going to punish you for doing exactly what your late father wanted, they can fly a kite,” one commenter reasoned.
‘Mother should also ask her new husband to stay out of it. He’s not your father.’
‘NTA. You did not choose how your father settled the inheritance, and they are not his children, a second noted.
A third made the following argument: “NTA: If your mother and stepfather were good parents, that’s great. If you want to help them, you can. 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 you finance a house and university with it, it won’t make you rich. Simply comfortable.
“Money moves quickly once you start spending it. And it goes even faster when you give it away.
‘Do what you want with it. But don’t do anything with it just out of guilt. If you share it, it must be something you WANT to do. You say you don’t want that. So don’t do that.
“Say your mother and stepfather may not support you more than the minimum from now on, but that’s okay, that in itself helps the other children.”