'AITA for not sharing my inheritance because my grandma hated her children but liked me?'

AITA For Not Sharing My Inheritance?

Miserable_Taste_8163 writes:

I (30F) am my paternal grandmother's only granddaughter, and she has left me almost everything. My cousins (who are all boys) hate me for it. Growing up, my grandmother always seemed like a person who was constantly disinterested, annoyed, and emotionally guarded, but now that I'm older and know the story, I can see why she was so bitter and depressed.

In the 1960s, when more and more women were starting to go to college, my grandma was encouraged to pursue a higher education by her (female) teachers while her parents shrugged it off.

My grandma applied and was accepted into a college with a scholarship and was so happy. It was all set, but the week after high school graduation, her father's boss came to the home to meet with her. Apparently, my great-grandfather had a gambling problem that he tried to hide, and now my grandma's family was in danger of being homeless.

My great-grandfather made a deal with his boss to pay off his debts if my grandma married the boss's son. My grandma obviously didn't want to do it but was emotionally manipulated into accepting, and she never went to college.

My grandma had my dad shortly after she got married and became trapped raising her two stepsons and her own sons. Her dad and other male relatives never stopped coming to her husband for money, and he would lord it over her all the time while being a terrible husband to her.

The only thing that her husband did well was making sure that she was taken care of financially before and after his passing. Almost everything was in her name after he passed, but it didn't stop my uncles and dad from trying to siphon money away for themselves.

My mom was the one who found out and blew the whistle on it, which I feel was one of the factors that led to my parents' divorce. My uncles threatened to withhold contact if my grandma didn't do what they wanted, but she really didn't care.

I think it's because she may have never really wanted to be a mom. She still sent me and my cousins (her sisters' grandchildren) presents, and when I got a little older, I tried to re-establish a relationship. I was never really as close to her as I was with my maternal grandma, but we did have something.

When my grandma passed, she set it up so that most of her assets went to charities and organizations and to me while leaving a few items for her sons, stepsons, and their children so they couldn't contest the will. My male relatives are harassing me to share, but I know my grandma didn't want them to get a dime, so AITA?

Here are the top comments:

Comfortable-Sea-2454 says:

NTA - Grandma left it to you so you had the choices she never had. "When my grandma passed she set it up so that most of her assets went to charities and organizations and to me while leaving a few items for her sons, stepsons, and their children so they couldn't contest the will.

My male relatives are harassing me to share but I know my grandma didn't want them to get a dime so AITA?" Read the last part of your last sentence and you have your answer. Change all your contact information, block everyone and go live happily ever after.

IamIrene says:

NTA. Your grandmother had a difficult life due to male dominance and financial struggles. She left most of her inheritance to you, her only granddaughter, to protect it from her entitled sons and stepsons.

They're now harassing you for the money. They are a greedy lot looking to wrest money from you they are not entitled too. Your grandmother can give her money to whomever she's chosen. They're just mad it's not all going to them. Don't budge an inch.

extinct_diplodocus says:

NTA. Don't fall for their greed. Just repeatedly tell them, "If grandma wanted you to have more, she'd have given you more in her will."

OP responded:

No, they are fully aware that she didn't want them to have any money they're just insisting that either she didn't fully understand with what she was doing and/or what she really wants didn't matter because it was ultimately "her husband's money" and not hers.

What do you think?