It is said that some family members only remaining link is dad's money. When that is gone so are they.....
When my dad died everyone acted like a bunch of vultures. I just stepped away with what he had left me and let them fight amongst themselves. They all thought I was crazy for not wanting to get more but in all honesty, I just wanted my dad back. My memories with dad will always be worth more than anything they have left from their greed.
Lots of crazy. Sorry you are dealing with it. I have several guns that I got from my dad that I know at least one of them needs to go to my adult nephew who is in college so that I am not hoarding them all and hogging the informal inheritance. (guns were not directed in the will and mom gave me what he had) I just need to figure out when he is ready to receive them as a responsible adult who respects what he is given. He grew up in the city with no gun exposure and I dont talk to him much. I dont want to give him something important, only to have him sell it off for cash because he really doesnt care.
And when my Grandma passed, the will was written that Mom got the house (she lives next door, making it now one big property) but owed her sister 50% of the value in cash, and my aunt got the cash in the bank. My aunt burned through the cash in a year, then insisted that she was owed the cash value of the house in its entirety. (meaning mom got nothing since she would essentially have to "buy" the house from her sister by giving her 100% of the cash value) Even the probate lawyer explaining it multiple times she still swears she is owed double what she got.(I love her and she is sweet but she isnt the sharpest crayon in the box) Even though she got ALL the liquid assets, she insists on more.
At least we can all still get together as a family and get along for holiday meals.
Wow...some sad stories here. One benefit of coming from poor a family...not that much to fight over. When my mom passed, I made up my mind I wasn't going to fight over the few things she had left behind. I was blessed that my brother felt the same way, mostly.
I'm with you here GFGT. I think my mom is a little regretful that she won't have more to leave us, but none of us care. My wife's side of the family has money and when I see how the family members are acting(even though both their mom and dad are still alive and fairly healthy), I'm glad we won't have an estate to deal with. Though, ironically, us brothers would not have any issues dividing one up if there was one.
My mom and dad came to America from Germany in the early 50's with two suitcases. They worked hard, raised us boys well and made a way. My brother's and I made our own way. My kids are making their own way. Would I like to be able to leave something? Sure. But if I can't, I can leave them with a solid footing and a means to provide for themselves and their family. I help when I can with my super,duper handy skills and they are happy for that. Mostly they are happy that we raised them with a positive outlook on life and a good work ethic.
That's an inheritance I can be happy with.