Man Wants to Know if He’s Wrong for Not Sharing His Inheritance With His Sister

Isn’t it interesting how people you never knew even existed seem to pop up out of nowhere when there is money involved?

I can only imagine what it must be like to be a celebrity… there are probably all kinds of “relatives” coming out of the woodwork.

And here we go again with a story from the “Am I the A**hole?” page on Reddit.

Let’s see what transpired, shall we?

AITA for refusing to share my inheritance with a “sibling”?

“Hello Reddit. I don’t have anyone I can share these thoughts with in person, so I’m hoping you guys can help me resolve this.

I (20m) am a single child… or at least I thought I was. Just over a year ago, I discovered that I have a sister, Lucy. The story goes that my mother had a child with her first boyfriend while she was in college, and they couldn’t support her so she opted for adoption at birth. My father was aware of this, but I was never told.

Anyways, about a year ago she made contact with my/our mother. They’ve gotten on pretty well, keep in touch and go on the odd lunch. Lucy’s also attended a couple of our family events this past year.

Her and I get a long fine as well. We’re different people so not friends, so I sort of see her as an acquaintance/friend of the family I guess. It’s a little odd because I know we’re closely related, but at the same time she doesn’t feel like “family” if that makes sense.

Okay so there’s the back story, now on to the dilemma. My grandparents on my mothers side both passed a few years ago. My mother was their only child, and I their “only” grandchild, and they left their entire estate to me.

This was known to my parents and me before they passed, as they had expressed it when they made their will. My parents are well off financially (moms a nurse dads a doctor), and so they were fine with the arrangement.

I was given access to the money on my 20th birthday, and the sum of money was much larger than I expected; totalling around 6 million. This is why I can’t really talk about this with anyone impartial, because I don’t really want friends etc to know.

Anyway, a few weeks ago my mother sat me down, and asked me to share the money with Lucy. Now, here’s the thing; like I said, to me Lucy is essentially an acquaintance.

I know we’re related by blood, but I don’t exactly feel the type of connection to her that would merit giving her such a large sum of money, or any money at all for that matter. So I explained that to my mother, and she wasn’t exactly happy with my answer.

She believes I’m being extremely selfish, and that Lucy could very much benefit from this money as well since she’s still a college student and in debt.

Here’s why I think I might be the a**hole; I don’t really see that as my problem. I believe family is who feels like family, not who shares your DNA. Secondly, my grandparents were aware of Lucys existence (even though they never met her) and they chose to leave everything to me all the same.

Also, it is not as though Lucy grew up poor in the foster system or anything, she was adopted at birth by what seems like two great people. Her adoptive parents are an accountant and a teacher.

P.S. I do not plan to just horde the money. I am starting law school this year, and plan to use it to start my own firm once I’m finished. So, go forth and judge me please.

Am I being a selfish a**hole here, or am I justified in thinking that simply being related by blood doesn’t merit any claim here?”