Few topics turn up the heat in a family quite like inheritances and estates. Most particularly, if a family member is left out of the estate.
In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a man asked if he was wrong for giving his son's share of the estate to his granddaughter. He wrote:
My spineless son Richard (38m) has prioritized his wife and stepkids over his own daughter Haley (18f). It’s happened multiple times I have decided to disinherit him and rescind his stepkids' 529 college funds. I am not here for judgment if I should disinherit him or rescinding the college funds but if it's fair to my other two kids by leaving my granddaughter an equal share of my estate.
The way my will is currently written my estate will be split equally 3 ways. I have set up 529 funds for all my grandchildren which I am the sole owner of and that is all I planned for them to receive with the exception of family heirlooms. I'm seeing my lawyer Friday to make the change. My other 2 kids (41m & 36f) says it's not fair to their kids.
Everyone agrees that Richard, his wife and stepkids are disowned and out of the family. Richard is extremely upset but you reap what you sow. He is certainly not going to leave anything to Haley now.
My other 2 kids have substantial assets themselves and will be leaving their assets to their children. I don't understand with this being the case why Haley should not get her father's portion. They think I should leave his share to all the grandkids equally. I am not so convinced. AITA?
Corpuscular_Ocelot wrote:
NTA. Do not - I repeat DO NOT make one of your kids the executor of your estate. Inheritance makes people go nuts and your kids 100% sound like they would try to find a way to screw over your granddaughter. Definitely see a lawyer to make sure your son can't contest by saying he was "forgotten" or your other children can contest saying their children were "forgotten."
PresenceOk8314 wrote:
NTA it’s literally the line of succession. Their children could 100% inherit…if they forfeit their own portions. It’s unfortunate they are so greedy…they are literally adults!! Great for Haley that you’ve stepped up for her!
Remember1959 wrote:
NTA. Your other children are greedy and think Haley should be punished for her father’s neglect so that they can inherit more.
dncrmom wrote:
NTA You have 3 children so the estate is split in thirds. However, you can arrange their third to go to their own children. The other grandchildren don’t get their uncle's share. With this greedy mindset maybe you need to set up a trust for all your grandchildren to inherit & skip all your kids.
Temporary-King3339 wrote:
NTA. One, it's your money. Two, it sounds like they were on board with getting Richard out when it meant more money for them. Watching out for your grandchild who doesn't have a lot of support is a very good grandparent thing to do.
OP is NTA, clearly, the family is not giving Haley the support she needs.