Parents Stole Daughter’s College Money to Use for Son’s Wedding — She Decides to Sue Them

• A woman's parents never told her they had taken money from her college fund until she visited the bank to withdraw it.
• She learned they had spent it on their son's wedding.
• Furious, the woman sued her parents, but her brother later asked her to withdraw her lawsuit.

A young woman grew up in a town where people did not support the idea of educating girls. While many girls in the city did not attend college, this woman always wished to continue her education after high school.

She was fortunate enough to have some family members in her life, including her great-aunt, who wanted the girls in the family to study as much as they wanted. The great-aunt grew up in a progressive environment in London, where she studied and eventually became a doctor.

After attending university in London and tying the knot with a British man, the great-aunt moved to the US, where she lived a comfortable life. However, she never forgot her nieces and grand-nieces back home.

While the great-aunt was alive, she funded the education of many of her female relatives. Before her death, she set up college funds for as many of her nieces and grandnieces, hoping they would use the money for their education one day. Little did she know that one of her great-nieces wouldn't be robbed of that opportunity.

Where Did the Money Go?

The great-niece opened up about her side of the story on Reddit, sharing that her college fund was "almost gone" by the time she graduated high school. She said, "There was like $13,000 left."

Shocked, she returned from the bank and asked her parents about the money. She always thought her college fund, which her great-aunt had set aside for her, was safe in the bank, but it turned out that someone had withdrawn most of it.

"I finally found out where the money went," the woman revealed in her Reddit post. She was furious upon learning that her parents had withdrawn the money without her consent because they needed it to fund their son's wedding. She revealed:

"My parents managed to access the accounts that were set up for my sister and I."

She also explained that she didn't learn about it earlier because her sister didn't attend college after graduating high school. However, as soon as she learned that her parents had taken the money without her consent, she was furious and immediately decided to move out, after which she said she became "a great source of shame to them."

The woman was determined to pursue her studies so she funded her education by taking student loans. She was happy to live independently, away from her family, but could never forget what her parents did to her. As a result, she sued her parents for stealing money from her college fund.

When her relatives learned about the lawsuit, they scolded her for prioritizing money over family. They believe she shouldn't have filed a lawsuit against her parents because that meant "airing private family business in public," but her American friends thought otherwise.

Soon, she received a call from her brother telling her to withdraw her lawsuit. In return, he offered to pay back her college money, but the woman didn't trust him. She told him to sign a legal contract before she would think of withdrawing her lawsuit.

The woman's brother got offended upon learning she didn't trust him. But she told him he shouldn't have used her money in the first place, and she remained firm on her decision to have him sign a legal contract so he wouldn't back off from paying her.

"I am somewhat ashamed to be doing this, but I don't want to have this debt I should not have," she said in her Reddit post where she asked others if she was at fault for suing her parents.

What Did People Say about Her Situation?

The woman's Reddit post garnered over 4,400 comments and about 42,000 upvotes. People shared their opinions in the comments section and advised the woman on what to do next.

One person asked her how much money her parents stole from her, to which she replied, "Enough that both my sister and I could have finished our undergraduate degrees without debt."

"NTA. Your parents didn't borrow your money. They stole it. I hope you have all the documents to show that money was yours," another Reddit user responded. The user added that her brother was also at fault for trying to convince her to withdraw her lawsuit. To this, the woman replied:

"The student law center at my university is helping me with everything. I have proof that the money was mine."

She also stated she didn't want this to become a "criminal matter," to which another user replied that what her parents did was a criminal offense and that they could get jailed for it.

Meanwhile, one user told the woman that what she did was okay and that she didn't have to feel ashamed. Most Redditors supported the woman and believed her parents were at fault.

Here is another story about a woman who stole her niece's inheritance, unaware she would soon end up penniless and living in a trailer.