A 47-year-old woman has backed down on a fight for her marital home after the internet labelled her an a**hole for insisting she inherit it over her step-daughter.
She and her 65-year-old husband have been married for 10 years and are living in the home previously owned by his deceased wife and her parents before her, but she believes the property should be left to her when her husband dies.
Due to the couple’s “significant” age difference, the woman – we’ll call her Nancy – told Redditors that she will probably outlive her husband, and did not want to be left homeless after his death.
Her husband – let’s name him George – insisted the home be left to his 30-year-old daughter. After all, it did belong to her grandparents and then her mother. Nancy, however, strongly disagreed, saying she was “completely blindsided and shocked”. This led to a nasty fight and prompted her to ask the internet whether she was wrong.
“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. My husband explained to me that I knew the house belonged to his late wife who inherited it from her parents, and that I couldn’t possibly expect him not to leave his house to their daughter.
“I replied that the house now belongs to him, and as his wife, I have a right to my marital home.”
Nancy says it is not fair that she not inherit it as she has spent “so much time and effort” redecorating it and making it her own. She also does not want to be left homeless as she is a housewife and has nowhere else to go. Therefore, George “has an obligation to ensure my financial safety after his death”.
George believes it will be incredibly unfair to his daughter and late wife if Nancy inherits the property, and says his wife would never have wanted that.
“His wife died unexpectedly at a relatively young age before she got around to making a will, so my husband automatically got the house as per inheritance laws,” Nancy explains.
To add fuel to the fire, George told Nancy that while she is the sole beneficiary of his life insurance, any savings left behind will be equally divided between her and his daughter.
“However, I don’t think this money would be enough for me to survive the rest of my life, especially as my husband plans on having expensive cruises and holidays for the rest of his retirement,” she says.
The couple argued and Nancy told George that he was “screwing her over” after she gave up her job and career to look after their home. She says she deserves to be compensated.
According to her story, George retorted that it was Nancy’s choice to give up her career and that he never asked her to; she knew the risks and benefits. However, he says he will leave her a reasonable inheritance and that, if it is not enough, she must go back to work.
“I told him I never knew that I wouldn’t get the house and that it’s late for me to return after being out for over 10 years.”
After yelling at her husband and then locking herself in the guest room, Nancy turned to Reddit’s ‘Am I the A**hole’ sub, but the responses were not in her favour.
While some people did say that the issue with the house should have been communicated with Nancy, and that it would be reasonable for her to expect to inherit the shared house, most of the comments were ruthless, with some calling her a gold digger and telling her she was not too old to return to the workforce.
After reflecting on the comments, Nancy updated her post to say that she understands the backlash and would apologise to her husband and find a job – something not so stressful, and something she could enjoy and use to build her own savings.
However, she states: “I had grown really attached to the house which I wouldn’t have done had I known it wouldn’t ever be mine or that I would be kicked out of it at some point. I honestly didn’t know it belonged to his late wife’s parents and I was just so shocked and blindsided. I just thought his wife’s name was on the deed as she was the main earner at that time. But yeah I realise it’s completely my fault for assuming and that I was acting entitled. I will apologise to my husband and my step-daughter.”