Young Lady in Debt Thought Her Grandma Left Her Jewelry, Later She Found a Copy of the Will

A 21-year-old woman has difficulty with her student debt and asks her mother about the “jewelry” her grandmother left for her, unaware of how a hair-raising truth would come to light.

A woman left with $55,000 worth of student debt was disgruntled after discovering her mother blew up her lumpsum inheritance from her grandmother and then came up with an unbelievable reason.

The master’s graduate from the US shared her harrowing experience on Reddit, revealing how she had a big bump of debt that left her struggling, only to find out she should’ve had a share of massive wealth from her grandmother.

Having completed her master’s, Redditor centuryplant wished to take a year-long break and go on a long-distance hiking adventure before starting her Ph.D.

However, the Original Poster (OP) thought it would be a bit irresponsible to tour around with her student debt on her shoulders.

Just then, OP recalled her mom mentioning a safety deposit box with jewelry her grandmother had left for her. The woman desperately needed some finances and immediately reached out to her mother to find out more about it.

OP emailed her mom and asked her if she could look at the box and check its contents. But to her surprise, her mother responded with a quick “NO,” and said she wouldn’t inherit the jewels until she dies, sounding suspicious like never before.

She started to wonder about what exactly her grandmother left her, and if her mother was making up stories about the jewelry belonging to her and not OP.

To find out the truth, OP browsed through the county website to download a copy of her grandmother’s will. She was aware of her mom’s unreliability with money, so she was curious to find out what her grandmother actually left for her.

She read the will carefully and discovered her grandma had left a lump sum of $50K for her. OP was startled and reached out to her mother again without disclosing she’d read the will.

OP then emailed the school, and eventually, another stunning piece of news surfaced.

She initiated a casual conversation with her mom and asked if her grandmother had left her money. But to her surprise, her mother came out with a bit of confession that unraveled her betrayal.

OP’s mother said that her grandma didn’t leave any finances personally for her but left her “some” money for her education and that she’d already used it all for her elementary school tuition.

The woman was confused about how her mother could withdraw the funds when it was clearly mentioned that only OP could do it when she was 21. Also, OP thought that if this money were put up in savings at 2.2 percent, she’d have easily yielded around $77K by now.

Moreover, the will mentioned a “lump sum” amount, and it didn’t fit the bill of her mother’s claims. OP couldn’t believe what her mom said, and the whole thing just cloaked her with confusion. She turned to Reddit for advice, citing, “Was it legal for my mom to spend my inheritance?”

The people online quickly sympathized with OP’s plight, with many slamming her mother and urging her to seek immediate legal advice. Redditor bug-hunter stated:

“Take that will to an estate attorney now because if the will was specific about the use of the cash, you may have a case. The private elementary school was for your benefit but was clearly not the purpose intended.”

The person added that probably OP’s mother wouldn’t have any way to repay the $50K, and it would be almost impossible to pay the $77K with interest.

OP claimed that she wouldn’t ask her mother to repay the money as she wasn’t doing well financially despite getting money and a house from her grandma.

“It (the house) has a mortgage on it for most of its value that my mom took out to pay off her credit card debt,” she explained.

Some users asked OP if her mom was the executor of the will and was granted access to the money without her consent.

OP said that the will mentioned her mom was the “personal representative,” and she was still confused whether the withdrawal-at-21 stipulation was for her or her mother.

“It says this about the “trustees,” and the part that mentions my inheritance is in a separate section where the money is called a “gift,” so I’m not sure if the gift would go in a trust or not,” OP stated.

As the discussion heated up, some users advised OP to request the tuition records from her elementary school. OP then emailed the school, and eventually, another stunning piece of news surfaced.

OP got her tuition records from her school, and the total cost was estimated to be around $60K. It was evident that her mother spent the money on her education.

“So, while it was unethical to spend my inheritance without telling me and it wasn’t a sensible financial move, the money was spent on me,” OP concluded.

Questions to Ponder:

Would OP have been relieved if her mother told her about the inheritance much earlier?

For years, OP lived under the assumption that she would get something valuable from her grandma. However, she was unaware that she’d inherited $50K and not the jewelry her mom told her about. Though the mom spent her daughter’s inheritance on her education, it’s anybody’s guess if OP would still be relieved considering two factors: her student debt and her mom spending the entire inheritance without her consent.

Is it okay for parents to blow up their children’s inheritance?

OP was utterly disappointed when she found out about the $50K she could’ve inherited and how easy her life would’ve become with some decent savings after repaying her student loans. But she was staggered when her mom spent her inheritance and was unsure if it was legal to do that. If in OP’s shoes, how would you react to knowing your parent had blown up your inheritance?

If you liked reading this story, then you might want to take a look at this one about how a wealthy older man with a $10M fortune is manipulated into cutting off his own family from his will.

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