A deceased woman who “owed” her daughter money in her will is being applauded online.
Sharing the hilarious tale on Reddit’s Petty Revenge forum, user u/Spycenrice described her grandmother as “The strongest woman on the planet.”
“She had her whole life ripped off and no one was going without paying her their dues,” she wrote.
The grandmother raised her children – two sons and a daughter – with love, but unfortunately all three became addicted to drugs. As a result, she also ended up raising three of her grandchildren – Spycenrice and her two sisters.
Throughout her childhood, the poster’s aunt, whom she calls “J,” would call her grandmother and constantly ask for money. The grandmother would lend her the cash, but it was rarely repaid.
“Which was a big mistake because, surprise surprise, my grandmother was on top of every penny she had,” she said.
“She was the best I ever saw when it came to handling money.”
Two years ago, her grandmother was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer. After she passed away, she left money in her will to her husband, two sons, the poster and her sisters.
But when it came to J, the will just said, “You still owe me $14.”
“I don’t know if she actually somehow owed J $14 in a will or just put it in there as a little slap in the face,” Spycenrice said.
“The only thing J was worried about when grandma died was the money and she got NONE OF IT. I couldn’t be prouder to have a grandma who wouldn’t leave this world without the last laugh.”
The story had Reddit users in hysterics, with the post receiving nearly 24,000 upvotes and more than 800 comments.
Common causes of children being non-hereditary
According to Matthew Erskine, managing partner of family law firm Erskine and Erskine, the decision to disinherit a child is often an emotional decision rather than a financial one.
“A parent may object to the child’s religious or political views, who they married (or divorced), or because the parent and child are estranged,” he said. Newsweek.
But parents can also use their last will and testament to level the playing field between multiple children. For example, if they financially supported one child more than another during their lifetime, or a child inherits assets such as the family business.
How the disinherited child takes the news will likely depend on the way it is delivered, as well as their relationship with the parent before their death.
“(If) it comes as a surprise, expect a level of anger, often enough to generate a lawsuit challenging the disinheritance,” Erskine said.
“In any case, if a parent disinherits a child, then a lawyer needs to keep very good and explicit notes on the client’s reasoning for why they are doing it.”
‘Your grandmother is a legend’
Baka-tari called the grandmother’s posthumous diss a “baller move.”
“Grandma took little ones to the grave,” he said. “There’s never anything J can do about it and she’ll be talked about forever too.”
HelloAll-GoodbyeAll agreed, writing, “Your grandma is a legend,” while DefinitionMission144 said, “Brilliant on every level.”
CoderJoe1 wrote: “It could only be better if she left her a mystery box that J could only take possession of after paying the estate $14.”
Envybelmont commented, “I imagine every time she buys something and the total is around $14, they’ll remind her.”
However, other users felt that Spycenrice’s story had some holes in it, especially as to why J was estranged but the poster’s father and brother were not.
“Wait, I need more info here…” Xyldarran said.
“So the aunt was estranged. Did she leave to get away from the two abusers that your grandmother was petting? I mean, I’d be f***ed off too if that was the situation.”
“You don’t become an addict and/or no contact because your mother raised you lovingly,” said mikaylin223.
“This was my thought too,” commented fanbreeze. “But I come from an abusive family, so I tend to see family dynamics differently.”
“Like everyone just threw that part out lol?” -NeoSaigon- asked.
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“Two of her kids are going through addiction issues and one of them cut off contact? Is Grandma as healthy as the OP makes her out to be?”
In an update, Spycenrice responded to the comments, writing: “I think it was a generational problem rather than the ‘bad parenting’ she’s being accused of.
“She was the best woman I had ever met. All 3 of us (grandchildren) are in therapy for things unrelated to my grandmother. My uncle, my father and my aunt are not.
“Don’t we think that the generational differences between people who often didn’t get the resources they needed and people with the technology to find the resources they needed might be a factor in how they dealt with their mental illnesses?”
Newsweek reached out to u/Spycenrice for comment on Reddit. We could not confirm the details of the case.
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