'AITA for refusing to share my inheritance with my siblings who are now threatening to sue me?'
"AITAH for refusing to share my inheritance with the siblings who are now threatening to sue me for 'undue influence'?"
My father passed away a few months ago. In his will, he left his entire estate to me, explicitly disinheriting my brother "Mark" 40M and sister "Jenna" 38F. The thing is 10 years ago, my father gave them $150k each as an "advance" on their inheritance to start businesses because they begged and begged. He had a lot of money back then so it wasn't much to him.
Both of them blew it within two years (vacations, cars, etc.) and had the nerve to ask him for more. When he refused, they got cruel. They stopped visiting, wouldn't let him see his grandkids, and bad-mouthed him to the entire family, claiming he was a "miser" who was "hoarding" their money.
I was the one who was there for him. I took him to doctor's appointments, helped him with his finances (without ever touching a dime for myself because unlike my siblings I have a great job that I worked hard for), and was with him in hospice when he died. It was just me and him at the end. His will is iron-clad, written by his long-time lawyer, and includes a clause stating they received their share "during my lifetime."
Mark and Jenna are furious. They've been blowing up my phone, saying I "poisoned" him against them. They're badmouthing me to the family and I'm getting phone calls from relatives that I should help them. Now, they've hired a lawyer and today I was served papers. They are threatening to contest the will, claiming I "took advantage" of our father in his old age and used "undue influence" to get him to cut them out.
They offered to "drop the lawsuit" if I just give them $100k each. I told them to get lost and that I would never give them a single cent of our father's money after how they treated him. I am so angry I can barely speak.
AITA for telling them I'd see them in court and refusing to give them anything? I'm honestly worried that fighting this in court will take more in legal fees than just paying them but I'm so angry that I need an outside opinion because I've lost perspective.
This is what people had to say to OP:
Kindly-Push-3460 said:
NTA, like the will states your siblings received their inheritance while your father was alive . You know you have nothing to feel guilty about. Even if you gave them $ they would blow through it and ask again for handouts as "it's not fair you still have money and they don't". Block them and carry on with your life knowing you were there for your dad.
IrrelevantManatee said:
NTA. Don't give them a cent : they are bluffing. They can try to sue, but they would need some proofs in order for the trial to take place. As they don't have anything, the trial probably won't even happen.
OP responded:
I thought the same thing until I got served papers and it all became real. I'm going to call a lawyer once I stop fuming I just hate the idea of losing any money at all over this. The worst is I feel like I'm the only one in this family who's grieving and I'm just so drained over all this. It's been a very long few months. Also I really like my nieces and nephews, the idea of not seeing them again is awful.
Ok-Recognition9876 said:
Contact the lawyer who helped your father with his will.
OP responded:
Thank you why didn't I think of this... It's been such a long few months. I have an appointment with an attorney tomorrow but I'll call him now
FireMama420 said:
Don't give them a penny. Respect your father's wishes.
stroppo said:
NTA. I worked for a lawyer, and what he told me once was that it is very difficult to prove undue influence. From what you're shared here, it doesn't sound like they have much of a case.
But. I'm assuming you now have a lawyer yourself. Stop talking to your sibs, and direct any further questions to your lawyer. Ditto other relatives; stop talking to them. Be very firm on this point. "I have nothing more to say," and then just tell the sibs to contact your attorney.
And OP responded:
Thank you that's good to hear, I have no idea how all this stuff works and just don't want to get bled dry with legal fees after all the crap they've pulled over the years. I have an appointment with a lawyer tomorrow to start dealing with this