Mom Dragged For Asking Daughter To Give Inheritance To Sons: 'Shame On You'

Internet commenters were outraged after one mother revealed her plan to transfer her daughter's inheritance fund to her two sons.

In a viral Reddit post published on r/AmITheA**hole, Redditor u/Icy_Office2441 (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) detailed numerous occasions on which her daughter has financially rescued their family, but pointed to her success as a business woman as justification for taking away her impending inheritance.

Titled, "[Would I be the a**hole] IF I ASK MY DAUGHTER TO RETURN HER INHERITANCE?" the post has received more than 7,000 upvotes and 3,500 comments in the last five hours.

Beginning with the explanation that her husband "got sick" around the time her oldest son finished high school, the original poster said her oldest daughter "Jennine" stepped up and took over the family business, allowing her son to pursue a career and medicine. And when her youngest son decided to study medicine as well, her daughter paid for it—again.

Now, six years later, the original poster said Jennine still runs the family business, tripling profits and making life much easier for the whole family.

However, after OP's husband decided to leave a majority of the business to their daughter in his will, problems arose, mainly because of the lack of funds flowing to her other children.

"[My husband] decided that from the sales of the business, Jennine will receive 70 percent of the money and her siblings will share the 30 percent [that's] left," OP wrote. "His reasoning was that the business paid for the medical school fees.

"I do agree that Jennine [put] her life on hold for her siblings, but she is getting married to a very rich man who will take [care] of her," OP continued. "My sons on the other hand...all want stay at home wives.

"I tried to explain this to my husband but all he says is they should start eating ramen noodles and stop relying on their sister," OP added. "[But] I have decided to ask Jennine to give her money to her brothers after her dad transfers it."

Despite their intended purpose—to leave valuable assets to family members or other deserving recipients—inheritance funds are often more contentious than conciliatory.

Considering that the who-will-inherit-what conversation is almost exclusively tied to the loss of a loved one, a certain level of emotionality is to be expected, especially when an estate is divided between the children of the one leaving it behind.

But where common sense would lead families to divide the estate evenly between siblings, common solutions aren't always applicable to complex problems.

"There is a difference between leaving an equal inheritance, where each child receives the same amount, and an equitable inheritance, where each child receives what's fair, given their circumstances," financial media outlet Investopedia asserts.

Circumstances, along with an individual's relationship with their deceased parent or parents, should dictate which children are entitled to certain portions of an estate and according to the viral Reddit post, the original poster's husband planned to divide his estate based on his daughter's immense sacrifice and willingness to take on the family business to put her brothers through medical school.

Unfortunately, the original poster has other ideas. If it were up to her, her children would receive an equal amount of money, ensuring her sons' wives can stay at home at the expense of her daughter's decade of putting everybody else's needs before her own.

Throughout the comment section of the viral post, Redditors lambasted the original poster for wanting to violate her husband's will and wishes—and for attempting to take well-deserved money out of her only daughter's pocket.

"[You're the a**hole]," Redditor u/PsilosirenRose wrote in the post's top comment, which has received more than 20,000 upvotes. "She already sent the rest of your kids to college for you. Now you want her to get less inheritance?

"At what point does she ever get a return on her hard work?" they questioned.

Redditor u/DoodleLover20, whose comment has received more than 11,000 upvotes, echoed that sentiment.

"Your daughter stepped in and passed up on college to take over the business for your family," they wrote. "In what world is it fair to her to penalize her for marrying someone with money?

"You don't love your daughter," they continued. "You do love your sons."

"You are truly the A**HOLE here!" Redditor u/Canucks-R-Us chimed in, receiving nearly 6,000 upvotes. "Your daughter did what she could do to help out the ENTIRE family."

In a separate comment, which has received more than 3,000 upvotes, Reddior u/hanbnanAU offered a simple assessment of the original poster's actions.

"Your daughter took over responsibility for your sons and you want to [penalize] her for it," they wrote. "Shame on you."

Newsweek reached out to u/Icy_Office2441 for comment.