Following the death of my grandfather last year, things got very complicated with the inheritance. I’m Benjamin, and I’m 33 years old. My grandfather left me most of his estate, which includes a nice house worth over $890K, as well as cash and other valuable things worth more than $250K.
Grandpa didn’t leave my dad and brother any money or things.
I have an interesting story: my grandfather didn’t leave anything for my dad Mark, 67, or my brother James, 41. Time for family drama! This is because of the history between my dad and grandpa. When my dad married my mom, Catherine, when they were both in college, they had a big fight.
Because Grandpa John didn’t agree with the marriage, he cut ties with my dad. Because of this, my grandparents never got to meet my brother and me until after Grandpa died.
We were sitting with a lawyer in the days after Grandpa John’s funeral, trying to figure out how to handle the inheritance. Surprisingly, Grandpa John had split it in thirds, giving two halves to his daughters and the other half to me, skipping over my dad’s share. Dad was, of course, very angry.
Everything changed when my grandfather wrote me a letter.
A letter from my late grandfather John was given to me by the lawyer who works for our family. It was written a year before he died. He tells a big secret in the letter: my dad isn’t really James’s biological father. Grandpa John was very confused and upset when my mom met my dad because she was expecting James. He stopped seeing my dad as part of the family because of this, and they never got along again. I was shocked when I learned about it and told my parents. They proved what Grandpa had written to be true.
The letter I got from Grandpa John hints at a chance to make things right. He felt bad about the choices he made and hoped that finding out the truth would bring our family closer together. But my dad doesn’t know about this, and I feel like I’m in the middle. I don’t know whether to tell him the truth or keep it to myself. On top of that, the whole issue of inheritance makes things difficult. My family thinks I’m selfish because I don’t want to share, but it’s not really that simple. I’m not sure what to do. How can I deal with this without making my family fight?
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