Fury Over Woman Trying to Block Stepdaughter's Inheritance—'Left Homeless'

Internet users have criticized a woman who tried to block her husband from leaving his house to his daughter, fearing that she would be left poor when he died.

In a post shared on Reddit earlier in August under the username u/ZealousidealCow1669, she wrote that her husband, who is 18 years her senior, has a daughter who is in her 30s and is planning to leave their marital home to her.

His reason is that his late wife died before she could write up a will, so the house automatically went to him, even though she would have wanted it to go to their daughter. So, to honor her, the husband will respect her will and make sure that their daughter inherits the house after his death. The poster didn't like her husband's answer and tried to talk him out of it, unsuccessfully.

Evan D. Schein, the head of litigation at New York City-based law firm Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein, told Newsweek: "Discussing estate planning with a spouse can be a very hard conversation to have. This is especially true when there are children involved from a prior marriage. Emotions often run high during these conversations leaving people feeling hurt, confused, and questioning decisions made during their marriage.

"Conversations like this are much more productive when a professional is involved, such as an estate planning attorney or a financial adviser," Schein added.

The poster wrote: "I am aware that due to our significant age difference, I will [most] likely outlive husband by many years and will probably have to spend the last decades of my life alone. So I was really upset but also angry to learn I will most likely be kicked out of our house after my husband's death and left homeless.

"I replied that the house now belongs to him and as his wife, I have a right to my marital home and it's not fair that I will be kicked out of our home after I spent so much time and effort redecorating it and making it my own and become homeless after his death because I am a housewife and have nowhere else to go, he has an obligation to ensure my financial safety after his death," she added.

The poster's husband said to her that she wouldn't be poor after his death because she is the sole beneficiary of his life insurance. He added that any of his savings left would be equally divided between her and his daughter.

The average inheritance in the United States is around $46,200, with a big disparity between the top 1 percent receiving around $719,000, and the bottom 50 percent getting about $9,700. This is according to financial and retirement planner website Annuity.

However, the poster wrote that this money won't be enough for her to survive the rest of her life without working, especially because her husband plans on having expensive cruises and holidays for the rest of his retirement and she fears he will spend all the money. This led to a heated argument, and the poster ended up locking herself in her room, avoiding her husband.

The post quickly went viral on social media, receiving over 6,200 upvotes and 3,900 comments so far.

One user, TheSciFiGuy80 commented: "IT IS NOT YOUR HOUSE. He explained it to you. It was his first wife's house and his reasoning for giving it to his daughter is sound (it was HER GRANDPARENTS' HOUSE for goodness sake, it SHOULD stay in the family). Would you leave it to her when you died? Or would she lose out on the property HER mom inherited?

"And 47 is NOT too old to go back to work. Heck, I know people who change careers at that age. So stop with your excuses. Of course, this also reads like it's fake. So my response above is only for reality and not rage bait which this looks like."

And MartinisnMurder posted: "She easily can go work, she doesn't want to! I am guessing it is fake because according to her the 'contributions' she makes are looking good for him and redecorating the house?! They have someone who cooks in the morning and cleans the house. This is ridiculous. Also, the fact this dude is only 65 and she's already planning on his death and her inheritance is quite disturbing."

Newsweek reached out to u/ZealousidealCow1669 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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