Family relationships can be difficult, especially when blended families and finances are participated. Topics like money, loyalty, and parenting often sparks strong emotions and difficult choices. When boundaries aren’t clearly restricted, even the closest families can deal with serious arguments. Recently, a woman discvered her personal experience after a controversy with her husband over her son’s inheritance triggered a heated family dispute.
Here’s full story:
I’m Lisa, I’m forty-two, and I’ve been married to Jeff for twelve years. Jeff has an 18-year-old son with his first wife, and I have a 14-year-old kid from a prior marriage.
My son was nurtured by Jeff since he was two years old. His biological father had to travel frequently for work, so he was essentially absent.
My son’s father passed suddenly a week ago, leaving him a sizable legacy that I will look after till he is 18.
Jeff wants me to utilize a portion of that money to cover his own son’s college expenses because he hasn’t been doing well financially lately.
He said, “I treated your kid as my son, is this how you thank me?” when I refused. “I’m sorry, but you don’t deserve his money because you raised my son,” I said.
After a minute of silence, he said, “You will not be happy with the outcome!” and I froze.
For the remainder of the evening, we remained silent.
The following day, I noticed that Jeff had a lengthy list on the table. I was surprised. From the time my kid was two years old until now, he had documented all of the costs he had paid for, including clothing, excursions, and outings.
Jeff constantly asserted, “Your kid is mine, there’s no difference,” even though my son’s father paid child support. However, he is now demanding that I return every penny since he is angry at my rejection.
I think this is ridiculous. Giving him a piece of my son’s legi:timate inheritance feels like betraying my child, even if I know he’s sad.
By refusing to cover his college expenses, am I being unjust to my spouse and his son?
Yours,
Lisa