Splitting the inheritance that a beloved family member leaves behind can be very traumatic. While families that care for each other will honor the deceased loved one’s wishes, in other situations, the reading of the will can bring out the very worst in some people.
If you end up getting what you think you deserve, your relatives might show you how greedy they really are. While everyone else in the family was happy to ignore her grandfather, she took care of him after her grandmother died out of the kindness of her heart.
The full story about what happened next and the jealousy of the family will be found here. We want to hear what you thought of the situation when you finish reading the story.
A woman turned to the AITA community for advice on how to handle her family’s reaction to her grandfather’s wishes.
Here is the story in full. It shows probably awesome and most horrendously terrible of what humanity brings to the table
We wanted to understand why some people are worse off than others. Sam told us that people who fight over inheritance are usually entitled.
“It’s the sense of entitlement people have for other people’s money. The more entitled you feel, the worse you will act if you don’t get what you want,” he explained.
“If you’re going into a will reading expecting anything more than nothing, you’ve already got ill intentions. It’s best to expect nothing. This way, if you get anything, it’s an upside. And if you get nothing, you won’t be disappointed.”
The founder of Financial Samurai showed that there is a line between healthy self-interest and all-out greed.
“Self-interest is good for your survival and your family’s survival. But once you start expecting more at the expense of another, your greed may ruin your relationships with others,” he explained where the line lies.
“To keep envy in check, always go through the things you already have and be thankful. Instead of always comparing up, compare sideways or down. Think back to the difficult times you encountered and appreciate where you are today,” Sam told that gratitude is the antivenom to envy.
Sam said that the younger generation is worried about how they will be able to afford homes and provide for a family in the future. “With the Baby Boomer generation accumulating so much wealth, it seems like Millennials and Gen Z might never catch up. However, there is one silver lining to this massive generational wealth difference,” he said.
“A massive generational wealth transfer is underway! It stands to reason younger generations will inherit tremendous wealth from the oldest generations. Therefore, an optimist can believe that everything will turn out OK in the end. All that is required is patience and being good to your elders!”
The author of the post reached out to the AITA community for advice after her interaction with her brother. Even though she knew she was honoring her grandfather’s wishes by keeping the house, she still wanted to get some outside perspectives on the situation.
When his grandfather died, her brother was certain he would get the house. The author took care of her granddad because she liked him and because she didn’t want him to be alone. The rest of the family was angry when he left for her.
The majority of the AITA community thought the author was nice. She did nothing wrong. Quite the opposite. She showed that she was a kind, caring, selfish person who wasn’t expecting any reward at all.
One Redditor, u/czndra67, probably put it best when they wrote: “You took care of your grandfather out of love, expecting nothing in return. Your dad and brother gave nothing and expected everything in return. Keep the house. Your grandfather made the right decision.” Others agreed.
The author of the thread was acting in a way that brought about a lot of happiness in a person’s life. Being altruistic, helping others, and socializing without expecting a reward make us happier.
“Think about how you can reach out and do things for others, help a neighbor or volunteer for a cause, we get happiness high from helping other people. Or start small and simply list three things that you can be grateful for each night before bed,” Sarah Vero from the team at ‘Action for Happiness’ shared how everyone can take a firm step toward a happier life by setting their egos aside and lending a helping hand.
Here are the 10 keys to happier living, according to Sarah: “Giving, relating, exercising, awareness, trying out, direction, resilience, emotions, acceptance, and meaning. We are likely to be happier if our lives have direction, meaning, and purpose and if we are part of something bigger than ourselves.”
“When we do things for others it activates the reward center in the brain, so when we give a gift it feels the same as receiving a gift,” Vanessa King, the Head of Psychology at ‘Action for Happiness’ told us previously that human beings are a social species and that helping each other is what keeps and binds us together as a community.
“Small daily actions one at a time can help us to make altruism a lifetime habit. You could start out small by deciding you are going to smile at everyone you meet or pay three people a compliment today,” she said that everyone can learn to be more altruistic. The individual starts being kind with no ulterior motives even if things don’t start out well.
“Maybe at first, you start out doing things to help others only to get attention and praise, but you will find that doing things for others helps you feel good and when you see people’s responses. Once you see the difference you can make in the world and on your own happiness and altruism can grow naturally,” she said, adding that kindness tends to spread. They will be to everyone else the same way we are to others.
Many people were on the granddaughter’s side. Here is what they had to say.
