Woman Was Stealing from Old Mother's Inheritance Day by Day, Went Bankrupt after Her Death

A daughter-turned-gold-digger robs her old, widowed mother’s wealth for years assuming nobody would find out, and she gets a taste of her own medicine when some gruesome details come to light.

Posting to Reddit’s popular subreddit “ProRevenge,” where users post stories about getting back at someone after being wronged, one person shared the story that typically highlights how “you’d not get away that easily after robbing someone’s wealth.”

With over 20K upvotes, the post amassed over 1K commenters who profusely applauded the narrator for having taught the woman an unforgettable lesson after ripping off their grandma for years.

The Original Poster (OP)’s grandmother was somewhere between her late ’80s and early ’90s when the incident took place. At that time, she had only one dear wish—not to die in a senior home.

That said, her husband, aka OP’s grandpa, sold a few assets and invested the money that accumulated to make a handsome deposit for some 30+ years. He didn’t withdraw a dime from it and collected a pension.

After his passing, the grandma appointed her children as trustees. They were typically the trustworthy advisors who’d care for her until her passing. However, the real problem started when OP’s father, Willy, relocated far away and couldn’t keep an eye on the regular upkeep of the grandma’s trust.

OP’s aunt Rebecca assured him that she and their brother Fred would take over and see to the grandma’s needs. OP’s father trusted his sister but soon sensed something amiss during his frequent visits to his mother’s place.

He saw how his mother was deprived of overnight care. Her mail was unattended, and even the driveway wasn’t plowed. Both her cable TV and newspaper subscriptions were deactivated.

OP’s dad renewed the subscriptions, and as he investigated the granny’s well-being in person, he discovered she’d been eating moldy food at times because she had no mode of transport other than her truck, which was sold.

The poor old lady usually chilled at home and occupied herself with crossword puzzles, and upon first glance, it was evident she wasn’t given proper care.

She later revealed to OP’s dad that she’d get a visit from her daughter Rebecca only once a week on Saturday for only one hour. OP thought it was ridiculous because his aunt was barely two miles from his grandma’s house.

OP’s dad quickly spotted the suspicious holes in the audit reports, including extravagant monthly bills for a 90-year-old lady.

His grandmother later passed away and cherished dying in her house. However, her death surfaced some startling details about her assets and its beneficiaries.

The grandma’s children, including another estranged daughter, Becky, assembled for a quick peek at the legal formalities. Just then, OP’s aunt Rebecca bluntly requested everyone to forgo any audit or paperwork and sell the grandma’s house for $400K.

She insisted on dividing the proceeds of this along with the remaining back account balance of around $400k between them. To summarize, one signature on the said line would give each sibling a check worth $200K.

OP’s dad decided not to rush as he’d intended to wait a bit longer as the house would sell in the $600K range considering the size and location. But the situation exploded with a dramatic twist when aunt Rebecca lashed out at her brother as she aimed for a quick close.

But OP’s dad was determined not to sign the papers and left immediately. The deal was called off that day, and another appointment was fixed six months later.

However, OP’s father didn’t intend to sign the papers without auditing the accounts of the last five years. This time, OP’s uncle Fred sided with his dad and demanded the audit at the meeting.

The audit was done despite Rebecca’s refusal and vague reasons, and the reports showed up around three months later.

OP’s dad quickly spotted the suspicious holes in the audit reports, including extravagant monthly bills for a 90-year-old lady.

The dad then passed the reports to OP to give a second look as several things there didn’t add up to how the grandma lived after the trustees took over.

The Redditor spent a Saturday night rummaging through the reports and alerted his dad about some startling details.

The grandma’s monthly food bills were recorded to an estimated $2K for four years. She’d paid telephone bills for six cellphones when she only just had one landline.

Apart from the records showing a lumpsum expenditure on gasoline and house repairs, the grandma paid twice for aunt Rebecca’s lavish vacation to Europe. She’d also apparently given out a monthly stipend of around $4.5K to her estranged daughter Becky and her son. Her jewelry and other valuable assets were sold too.

Shockingly enough, all the grandchildren had to be paid $10K on turning 30. But only Rebecca and Becky’s children were paid out. However, the most significant bump for Rebecca arrived at the 3rd probate meeting.

Rebecca’s construction business had filed for bankruptcy, and the $200K equity the grandma held vanished. The negotiations that followed later favored OP’s side.

His aunt Rebecca didn’t inherit anything, while his estranged aunt Becky got only $25K post the stipend payments. OP’s dad and uncle shared the rest, and even the remaining grandkids got the $10 payout.

However, OP wasn’t pleased and took it personally since their aunt also defrauded the $10K payout willed to the grandkids. After some research, the Redditor reported her to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and was contacted back 18 months later.

After the agents rummaged through the details, it turned out OP’s aunt hadn’t declared around $1.2M in additional income for five years and owed the IRS over $420K penalties.

OP’s story amassed an overwhelming response from people who applauded for bringing the aunt to justice. Among them was Redditor Fromanderson, who wrote:

“Thank you for doing that. I’ve seen so many older people robbed blind by scummy relatives. It’s glad that someone out there is looking out for them.”

Meanwhile, some users commented about relatives who experienced similar heartbreaks when their dear ones showed up only for money.

“My grandmother was the administrator of a nursing home for 20 years. When a patient would die, in comes their family who we’ve never even seen demanding jewelry, money,” user cuppyuppycake wrote.

OP recounted that their aunt sold her house and vehicles to pay the penalties. She was declared bankrupt and left the state to live in a depressing desert town with her husband.

“The IRS paid me around $60K about 3 months after the appointment,” OP said and was pleased on the ultimate payback to their aunt. “She should have paid that $10K!” the Redditor concluded.

Questions to Ponder:

Do you think the grandma would’ve lived a peaceful life with her inheritance intact had OP’s father not relocated?

After her husband’s passing, OP’s grandma made her three children her trustees. Together, they were responsible for her well-being. But things took a dramatic twist after OP’s father moved away, and he had no idea about his mother’s health and wealth until visiting her. If he didn't move, could the sister have ripped off their mother the way she did?

Would the IRS have still declared the aunt bankrupt if it hadn’t been for OP’s intervention in her business?

The aunt’s strategy of ripping the grandchildren of their rightful $10K didn’t go too well with OP and urged him to plan a massive payback through the IRS. OP forwarded photocopies of the documents to the IRS, and it wasn’t until 18 months when they were called for checking the details before declaring the aunt bankrupt. However, it’s anybody’s guess if the IRS would’ve been involved without OP intervening to take revenge on their aunt.

If you enjoyed reading this story, here’s another true story of how an inheritance war sparks after a wealthy grandmother leaves a lumpsum share for only one grandchild.

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