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Grief is hard enough without people trying to make you feel guilty for doing nothing wrong.
So, what would you do if your spouse passed away and their family suddenly expected a share of the inheritance, even though there was no will and no close relationship? Would you hand over some money to avoid the drama? Or would you protect what’s legally yours?
In this story, one grieving widow finds herself in this exact predicament with her late husband’s sister. Here’s what’s going on.
Long story short, my husband of 10 years passed away 3 months ago at the age of 45. I am beyond sad.
We are (were) childfree by choice. We worked hard, traveled, and got involved in community volunteering. I was so happy with my life.
Husband left no will, so local laws dictate that everything comes to me as his widow.
Now, SIL is making enquiries about his will and whether his late husband left anything to his nieces and nephews. He never communicated any such instructions to me.
His family is guilt-tripping her.
The late husband did not have a particularly close relationship with his family, other than texting and seeing them a handful of times a year. SIL visited our house maybe twice in 12 years.
I am being made to feel like I should give her some of his money for her children. While I see it would be a nice thing to do, I am grieving and have sole responsibility for our house expenses now.
I can manage financially, but will probably have to sell our marital home, which crushes me further. The life I dreamt of has been stolen from me, and I have no idea about the future anymore.
AITA?
Wow! What a sad situation.
Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit suggest she do.
This person tells her to keep the money.
Here’s an excellent point.
For this person, they’d be up front with her.
According to this reader, a little white lie would work.
The money is hers.
There’s no law that says she must share, and if her late husband wanted her to, he would’ve left a will.
If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.