A Guy Complained That His Sister Will Get the Lion’s Share of the Inheritance, but People Didn’t Support Him

A few days ago, a guy complained to Internet users that his well-off older sister would get a bigger part of their parents’ inheritance, and asked if this was fair. But to the guy’s surprise, Internet users didn’t support him, sided with his sister and explained why they think so.

This is what he wrote.

Yesterday, my parents sat me (31 M), my two brothers (32M, 34M) and my sister (41 F) down to discuss their will. My parents informed us that they want to split it 5 ways, my sister gets 2/5 while the 3 of us brothers get 1/5 each. Their reasoning is that my sister “sacrificed” her childhood for our family, so it’s only fair she gets compensated.

In our childhood, my father’s business partner screwed him over, so there was a period where we were broke and in debt. My parents had to work multiple jobs to keep us afloat, and my sister babysat us while our parents worked. All she had to do was feed us and keep an eye on us. We were pretty calm kids, so all we did was play games and do our homework. It probably wasn’t thrilling, but not exactly a tremendous hardship.

I complained to my parents along with my brothers that it’s insane they want to give my sister 2/5 of the inheritance over that, especially since she’s financially the best off out of all of us. She doesn’t have any kids and a dual income with her partner. My parents said they’re disappointed in us, and said we need to reflect on ourselves.

My sister didn’t say anything while my parents spoke, but texted us afterwards that she had zero intention of taking 2/5, but we were all jerks.

Am I really a jerk for feeling like this split is unfair? © Bitter_Research2372 / Reddit

This is how Internet users reacted to this post.

The story got more than 3,000 comments. Almost all users sided with the sister. And this is how they explained their choice.

• Even if she just stayed at home while you were there, she didn’t have teenage freedom, and she made sacrifices and took on responsibilities. It doesn’t matter how affluent she is now, your parents are trying to pay her back for what they couldn’t pay her then. © SwimmingCritical / Reddit
• Plus, those years could be a major factor why she chose not to have kids. She already raised her siblings! © SierraSeaWitch / Reddit
• You just need to read the hundreds of stories about parentification, and how traumatizing that was for those who lost their own childhoods to look after their siblings. © Careful_Fennel_4417 / Reddit

• As someone who also had to babysit siblings much younger whether they were calm kids or not, I can attest that your sister deserves whatever the parents want to give her. © Hawkfan4_life / Reddit
• Plus although the sister earns more, she is 10 years older. So, of course she has more earning power. In 10 years time, perhaps you will be that affluent. © anemoschaos / Reddit
• Even if you were easy kids, she was a child herself, which is 10 times harder than being an adult and already having the authority of adulthood. It’s great that your parents recognize that it was an unfair position for her to be in for so long. © No-Entertainment7094 / Reddit
• First of all, you are not entitled to any of your parents’ money, they could have left it to a cat shelter and that would have been fine. Second, yes, she did in fact make a huge sacrifice by basically becoming a third parent and babysitting you all the time. All the time you’ve spent playing? She could have been out with her friends, enjoying her childhood, and instead she was making sure her siblings were fed and out of trouble. You are terribly entitled. © Sunny_Hill_1 / Reddit

• You’re getting 20% of the inheritance instead of 25%. You’re not angry that you’re getting less, just that she’s getting more. And she raised you! © ***hank / Reddit
• This is the one I was looking for. Your sister deserves compensation for her lost childhood, and it’s not even that much! You’d get 5% more if it was all split equally! 5% is really big enough to cause a family row over? © math-is-magic / Reddit
• Your sister is 10 years older than you. That means she was effectively parentified with 3 younger siblings at a relatively young age. She had to make sure you went to school properly dressed, did your schoolwork and probably cooked for the 3 of you boys. If your parents worked multiple jobs, she was more than likely cleaning the house, and doing your laundry.
  What she wasn’t doing was having birthday parties, sleepovers and playdates. You and your brothers were her responsibilities. How many dates, or potential boyfriends did she have to give up because she had to watch the 3 of you?
  She probably missed school functions, like dances, and probably didn’t get to be involved in extracurricular activities because she was watching you. She probably didn’t have a lot of friends, due to not being able to hang out, because she was watching her siblings. What she did for you and your brothers ensured your family succeeded. © ***Year / Reddit

This is how the author of the story reacted to the comments.

Interestingly, the comments of Internet users didn’t make the author of this story change his mind. In his opinion, parents in general should support a child who is not as fortunate in life as their siblings.

When their first kid becomes mature enough, most parents can finally breathe a sigh of relief. But making an older child babysit their siblings is probably not the best idea, since this can lead to some negative results.