A mom on Reddit revealed that she and her partner plan to leave their $3 million house to their eldest son, but he’s not happy with the offer. A few days ago, a user named r/Jazzlike_Fig2361 asked the community on the AITA subreddit if she was the a**hole for leaving their family home to their eldest son. She disclosed that after informing their son of their wishes, he refused to inherit the house. He also threatened to not look after his parents in old age.
Why Is The Son Refusing The $3 Million House?
The parents had initially planned to provide their $3 million house to their younger child. However, following his lack of interest, they decided to give it to their older son instead. The son was infuriated by the alteration of the will that barred him from selling the property.
On the subreddit titled “AITA for leaving only the house to one child?” the mother explained the full story. She said that they have two sons – the elder one is hitched and doesn’t intend on having children, while the younger one is married with two kids. Furthermore, the elder son lives in the same region as them, while the younger one is around 8 hours away. Both of them have houses of their own and are, to a great extent, financially secure.
She continued,
“Our house has been in the family for generations. It’s on an estate with a few hundred acres of land and the building itself is mostly original, a couple hundred years old. It admittedly does have its quirks and the size makes management a little difficult but is a wonderful home. It’s most recent appraisal was a bit over 3 million dollars.”
She continued to explain that a few months ago her younger son visited with his relatives and expressed her hopes that the house would one day belong to him. However, he showed discomfort and said that neither he nor his family wanted anything to do with it.
He added that if they ever moved back north, it would be to a different part of the state. She was disheartened to hear this as their intention was to make sure that the property stayed in their family and remained a place for them to gather.
Later, the couple decided to reform their will and decided to leave the $3 million house to the elder son and other assets worth $2 million to the younger one. Adding that,
“They can split the physical items between them. The house is worth more since the cash and investments are only around 2 million.”
When the parents decided to break the news of their new will to their kids, things did not go as planned. The elder son informed them that he and his partner cannot relocate to the house as they both have jobs on the other side of the state and really enjoy their jobs. Furthermore, they have pensions and career paths they don’t intend to abandon.
The elder son got even more annoyed when the mother suggested they could have someone else maintain the property. He stated that the maintenance of the $3 million house would cost them a lot adding more financial stress on the family. And the group call ended on a sour note.
The younger son was certainly pleased with the parents’ decision while the elder one wasn’t. She further wrote,
“[The elder son] later said he now knows we favor his brother and will keep that in mind when elder care comes up and he’s the one nearby. This seems like a low blow but I don’t know if it’s deserved. AITA?”
In a later edit, the mother revealed that the $3 million house could also not be sold.
“The house cannot be sold, by us or either son. A long time ago previous owners made a deal with the town to pay less in property taxes in exchange for the surrounding acreage being public trails. It also had a provision that the house cannot be sold publicly, if we no longer wanted the property the town will buy it for land value.”
Reddit Users React
Naturally, there were many responses to this eccentric family situation. Most users were in agreement that the parents were the a**holes in this situation for forcing their eldest son to carry all the burden of a $3 million house that can’t be sold.
One user wrote,
“YTA because you mentioned that the house can’t be sold without losing most of its value: therefore the value of your bequests to your youngest is way more than your oldest. If the house can’t be sold then it’s not worth anything but the structure.”
Another stated,
“Sell the fucking house. No one wants it. Use the money to secure your care in your older adulthood. YTA. That place is nothing but a burden.”
