'AITA if I cut off my entire family after I inherit a large estate?' UPDATED

"WIBTAH if I cut my family out of my life when I inherit a large estate?"

Ok for background, I (M24) live a very different life than the majority of my family. I didn't graduate highschool but got a GED and started working as a welder and hunting guide. The rest of my family is pretty successful, for instance my father is a lawyer and my mom used to be an RN, brothers own companies, sister got married to a lawyer, etc.

I'm glad my family found a lot of success, but they can be very shallow and often put me down for what I do for work. My mom will make comments like "When are you going to school to get a real job?" or stuff like that. They didn't want to pay for welding school so I worked at an auto shop to pay my own way through.

They often go on vacations and cruises without me because I "won't be able to appreciate the culture or food" and other bs like that. I love them but I have been slowly pulling away from them over the last few years since I can tell that we live different lives and they have no interest in sharing their lives with me.

NOW. My grandfather's brother "Mike" and I have always been pretty close. Mike and I used to go hunting when I was pretty young, and even though Mike was also working in law he and I shared a love of the outdoors and nature.

About a year ago, Mike was diagnosed with cancer and has quickly gone down hill in the last few months. I have taken a lot of time off of work to care for him since he is my oldest relative and no one else wants to take care of a frail, sick old man for some callous reason. His wife died fifteen years ago and he doesn't have any children.

He recently asked me if taking care of him was hurting me financially, and I told him that I was cutting back on hours at work but I loved him more than any of my other family members so it was my pleasure to take care of him.

The next time I went to visit him he revealed to me that he was having his will changed and would be willing his "hunting cabin" (it's not a cabin, its a small single-family home with power and running water, on 70+ acres) to me, along with about $100,000 to "get it fixed up and start your life." He wants the rest of his estate to be liquified and donated to different causes that he was passionate about.

Mike is actively dying now. He asked to be taken out of hospice so he can die at home with his dog (who will also be coming with me when he passes away). In HIS OWN HOME my family was talking about how much money Mike has, and how when he dies they want to convert his hunting cabin into a summer vacation home.

Also they were going to fund a big "memorial trip" to Europe on his dime, since we are his last remaining family and they expect the majority of his wealth to be broken up between us all. They do not know that everything is being donated and I am getting the house and some of his money.

I know that if/when they find out about what Mike has so graciously done for me, they will rip me down and curse his name. I don't want to be around for the fall out, I plan to set aside some money for renovating the house for full-time use and start a small welding company someday.

So, WIBTAH if I cut them out of my life as soon as Mike is gone? Seeing this new greedy side of them has soured me a lot and I don't know if I can even stand being around them anymore, even though I know that Mike always said that your family should be everything to you.

TL;DR: My great uncle is willing a large plot of land and a lot of money to me, greedy family wants to use it for a trip to Europe.

What do you think? WIBTAH for cutting them off? This is what top commenters had to say:

TheLeadSearcher said:

NTA - They will probably be the ones cutting you out when they find out what happened. Better make sure his will is bulletproof and your family of lawyers can't contest it.

Awesomest24 said:

As the song goes, “Go on, take the money and run” RUN AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE. YOU HAVE 70+ ACRES TO BUILD A FORTRESS. I AM TALKING TURRETS, DOGS, MOATS WITH PIRANHAS, THE WHOLE 9 YARDS. BE FREE!!!!

And 70sBurnOut said:

NTA. Using what he left you and building up your life is the best way to honor your Uncle. People can be vultures when someone dies and it’s always satisfying when they face an empty field. Besides, since they’re all so super successful and cultured, they shouldn’t mind if the family poor gets a leg up. 🙂

Four months later, he shared this update:

“Mike” passed away shortly after my last post. He died peacefully in his sleep. His last waking hours were spent with me, Maisy, and the nurse that was caring for him. He is buried next to his late wife. He lived a good life. Some of his last words to me were “We had a pretty good run, didn’t we?”

The will issue was hilarious to me and was a great pain reliever. Mike is always looking after me, even after his death, because watching the bombs fall in real time was like chicken soup to my grieving soul.

Yes, Mike did leave the cabin and money to me. He also left me his guns, his dog and her stuff, and his fishing poles/tackle and a few momentos from over the years. He changed the will three years ago and simply never told me or anyone else in the family. He left various trinkets for other members of our family that were pretty on the nose.

For instance, he left my father (who spent a long time complaining about the contractors doing work on the house) a bag of old hand tools. My sister got a box of wine glasses. One of my brothers got a drawer full of pens and pencils “for your blossoming legal career”. He also gave all of us some money for a round of beer in his honor.

Watching everyone go from fake sadness to excitement, to horror and disgust was quite the trip. My mom kicked the pot of flowers so hard she tipped it over. My father just stared out the window in silence for a really long time. Oldest brother held it together until we made it home and then started screaming and swearing about getting "a box of pencils as a thank-you for being part of his life."

I have been moved from the disappointment son list to the shit list. As some of you noted, they weren’t exactly angry about the cabin and the money Mike left me, but more so his larger assets that were being liquidated and donated. That drove them completely insane.

The main target of their abuse was the primary organization that Mike willed the rest of his estate to, and other than an initial small explosion and some snide comments, they seemed to take it in stride. I haven’t spoken to them much ever since Mike’s passing and the will issue.

There are still issues and such that that need to be worked out and I was told that could last up to a year. The cabin has been locked up, I set up some cameras and a gate alarm. I am moving in slowly, hopping between here and my apartment until my lease is up. It’s definitely dated and I’m currently working through renovations and repairs.

Because my phone number is tied to my work I didn’t want to change it, just opted to block everyone except my mother, in case something really bad happened. After a few days of her complaining/questioning why Mike left me something so nice, she quieted down.

Last week she began calling and texting me again and telling me it was an emergency. I spoke on the phone with her, and low and behold, it was not an emergency. They want me to donate the cabin and land to my sister since she’s thinking about starting a family and wants to raise her future children “holistically."

I told my mom that my sister and her husband have a double income and a lovely house in a completely different state than me and if they wanted to move out to the country they were completely able to do so, but I would not be giving them my land. She then suggested they buy it from me for $200,000, which is far, FAR less than it is worth. I said no.

I got everything from I’m a selfish bastard, to if I don’t support my sister’s dreams of raising her kids in the countryside I’m dead to her, to Mike would want me to give the cabin and land over, to see if we ever do anything for you ever again, you entitled @$$hole.

I feel like it should have been harder to hear those things, but they’re trying to get me to give up what my great uncle willed to me and it made me angry rather than sad. My sister also got on the phone to cry and say it was her and her husband’s dream to raise their kids on Mike’s land. I kinda felt bad saying no to her then but in hindsight she’s never mentioned it before so maybe this is a new development.

Since then, they’ve been contacting me by email, social media, and the like, hounding me to let my sister have/buy the cabin and land. So, despite my best efforts, the people of reddit are right once again. I should have gone completely no contact. I’ve deleted my socials, and since I’ve moved job locations, they don’t know where I am currently working.

They do, however, know where my house is. Sometime while I was at work my mom and sister drove over and knocked on the doors, tried to open the side door, and looked in the windows. On my doorbell camera my mother very clearly tells my sister not to touch anything “so he can’t sue." I am thinking of putting up a locking gate (right now it latches, but does not lock).

Everyone is now blocked and I am putting together a list of people that would need to be notified of a phone number change since I want to change my number. Not really sure how to go about keeping them from walking onto my property.

About two weeks ago when I came back to my apartment my parents were both waiting for me to confront me about how devastated my sister is that her future children won’t have the experience of growing up in the country.

I’m kind of afraid that they might camp out at the property until I give in. I put up no trespassing signs and I hope that’s enough. I know one of my brothers drove by a while back because he snapped me a picture of the road my house is on. Other than that, I am well, Maisy is well, and Mike is laughing from the grave.