I Refuse to Share My Husband’s Inheritance With My Stepson, Even If He’s Broke

When it comes to family and money, things can get messy fast. That is exactly what happened in my case. I never thought I would be the type of person to argue over inheritance, but here we are. My husband passed away recently, and his adult son thinks he automatically deserves a piece of his inheritance.

Hi Bright Side team and readers! I’m stuck with people calling me selfish because I refuse to share. But let me explain why I feel this way, because it is not as black and white as it sounds...

I married my husband when his son was already 18. I did not raise him, I did not make decisions about his schooling, and honestly, we were never close. He always treated me like an outsider. Every holiday was tense, every visit felt forced.

When my husband was alive, he helped his son a lot. Paid off his debts, helped with rent, and even gave him money for a car. I always found it weird and unnecessary to help an adult so much, and we fought over it, but in the end, my husband always got his way because it was his money. But now that my husband is gone, the situation is different.

My husband made it very clear in his will that everything goes to me. He trusted me to handle things obviously. He knew his son would expect money forever, and did not want his hard-earned savings wasted.

People keep telling me, “But he is your husband’s son, he deserves something.” The truth is, if my husband wanted to leave him something, he would have written it in the will. He didn’t.

His son came to me a few days after the funeral and straight up asked, “So, how much do I get?” Not a single question about how I was doing, no check-in, just money talk. That rubbed me the wrong way immediately.

I told him, “You are not getting anything, your father left everything to me.” He flipped out, called me greedy, and yelled, “I will make you pay!”. He stormed off.

I froze when I found out later that he is telling everyone that I messed up the will or forced my husband to give everything to me. He’s out there trying to turn other relatives against me.

Here is the thing: this money is supposed to secure my future. My husband worked his whole life so we would both be comfortable in retirement. Giving a chunk away would put me at risk, especially when his son has a track record of blowing through his cash. So, am I wrong for standing my ground? Or is his son entitled just because of the bloodline? My MIL keeps calling me about it, asking me to reconsider, as my stepson is “broke”.

When a young woman casually mentioned over office lunch that she never wanted to be a mom, she expected a few raised eyebrows, but instead, she was called in by HR! Read full story: I Said I Don’t Want to Be a Mom—Now HR Is Coming After Me