Possessing a substantial inheritance is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, if you were battling financially, this element of your life might be mended, but on the other hand, it may bring out the worst in people and lead to family feuds. Read the story to know what happened when this woman wished to give her house to her daughter and her partner of 2 years disagrees. What do you think she should do?
Source: Reddit
I’m a single mom in my 50s with one daughter. I got very lucky in that I bought a home in the Bay Area nearly 30 years ago for around $230K before the tech boom and now the house is worth about $1M.
I have a 23 year old daughter Camila who grew up in that house and she moved out last year to go live with her boyfriend. I’ve never explicitly told my daughter “the house will be yours” nor has she asked anything about it, but just sort of common sense – that’s my daughter. Who else would I give it to?
One important note – There are 2 homes in the neighborhood that are owned by lower middle class people (me and a neighbor who’s been here as long as I have). Otherwise, our neighbors are engineers and software developers. The Bay Area is simply un-affordable if you’re not in tech. My daughter is a hair stylist.
My fiance Steven and I have been together for 2 years. He has 2 young children (elementary school) he has joint custody of who I adore and I’m excited to help raise them. Steven and I don’t have a ton in the bank so a pre-nup seemed silly if it weren’t for the house. I told him that I’m ready to combine finances and plan long term with him, but I wanted a pre-nup agreement just for the house. It’s a non-negotiable for me that my daughter inherits the house. He wasn’t happy with this. He said that $1M split 3 ways is enough for all 3 kids to get a headstart in life. I disagree, I paid 80% of the mortgage by myself and Camila is my only child. She can have her dream life (working as a hairstylist, living in the Bay Area) with this house but will be unhappy (have to move out to a less desirable area) if it’s split.
I spoke to Camila about this and she agrees that she should get the house and said she always planned on inheriting it, just like I always planned on giving it to her.
Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
