In a post on Reddit in a community where people ask for advice on the way they reacted to certain situations, a 28-year-old woman wrote about her experience with her estranged father.
The woman explained that he walked out on her and her mother when she was only 10 years old. When he passed away, she refused to attend his funeral only to find out that he left her “everything” he had.
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She spoke about the relationship
The woman started by explaining her “terrible relationship” with her father.
She wrote that her dad “walked out on my mom and me when I was 10 and only popped up in my life when he needed something—usually money or a favor. He remarried, had two other kids, and basically acted like I didn’t exist.”
She broke the connection as an adult
The woman also adds that as soon as she turned 18, she decided that she was “done with him.”
“He tried reaching out a few times over the years, but it always felt forced, so I ignored him. My mom passed away a few years ago, and I didn’t even hear from him then,” she writes.
He didn’t connect when her mom died
As soon as she realized her dad didn’t get in touch when her mother died, “it solidified my decision to cut him off for good,” she writes.
But then a month ago she got a call from her dad’s wife saying that he had passed away.
She refused to attend the funeral
Upon being asked if she would attend the funeral, the woman refused. “Why should I show up to mourn someone who wasn’t there for me when I needed him?” she wrote.
She got a call from a lawyer a week later about her father’s will.
The woman recounted the call
“A week after the funeral, I got a call from a lawyer. Turns out, my dad left a will, and in it, he left everything to me—his house, his savings, his car, everything. His wife and kids got absolutely nothing,” she wrote.
The information astonished her
“I was floored. I didn’t even know he had that much to leave behind. The lawyer told me my dad had tried to make amends and felt guilty about abandoning me, so he wanted to ‘make things right’,” she added.
She felt conflicted about it
She admitted she has mixed feelings, writing, “On one hand, I didn’t ask for any of this. On the other, I get why they’re mad. I didn’t have a relationship with my dad, but now I’m walking away with everything, while they’re left with nothing.”
The woman gave an update
People under the post started suggesting what she could do with the money, with some suggesting she give it away or give it back to the wife.
In a follow-up post, she wrote that she decided to “give everything back to the wife and her family,” but that they’re still angry at her and she “can’t blame” them for it.
