Wealthy Man Didn’t Leave the Family a Dime – No One Knew about Inheritance He Left His Nephew

The man’s children were raised in luxuries and were the only heirs to his enormous fortune. But as a twist of fate, none of them got a dime from his inheritance after a long-hidden truth came to light. 

While receiving an inheritance from a late loved one can be a blessing for some, it’s not always the case with everyone, as evidenced by Redditor New_Reply_1901’s story when he visited Reddit’s “AITA” forum for an “outside perspective.”

An unexpected incident deflated the 27-year-old man’s family in 2019 and things took a different turn when he became a secret recipient of a piece of legacy nobody knew about from his late uncle. 

The guy’s uncle led a successful corporate life. He married his college sweetheart shortly after she fell pregnant with their first child, Brad, 29, a couple of years after they graduated. Since the uncle was financially well-off, the couple had two more children, Jessica, 26, and Lauren, 23.

The guy later admitted he never disclosed the money even when his aunt couldn’t afford his uncle’s funeral.

Since she married a wealthy man and was a stay-at-home mom, the guy’s aunt took pride in good looks and material possessions. Growing up, Brad, Jesicca, and Lauren followed in her footsteps, and this is where the problem intensified.

Despite being employed, Brad and Jessica lived beyond their means and often relied on their dad to bail them out. The cousins often looked down upon the other family members for not having the luxuries they possessed. Although the nephew’s family despised their attitude, they patiently tolerated their antics only for his uncle’s sake.

The uncle, on the other hand, was a very kind man. He valued his family above the rest and always had his best foot forward to help them. He funded his nephew’s college “as a gift” without expecting to be repaid as long as the guy kept his grades up.

While all was well, the real bomb dropped in 2019 when he discovered his wife’s on-and-off extramarital affair with a guy she had known in high school. The news crushed the uncle and pushed him to have their children DNA-tested.

He tested his kids’ paternity twice, and both times, the results revealed he wasn’t their biological father. While Brad and Lauren were born to his wife’s affair partner, Jessica’s paternal roots remained a mystery.

The uncle was devastated because he couldn’t divorce his wife even if he wanted to since she was unemployed and no prenup was signed. He worried he’d have to give everything to her if he proceeded with a divorce.

As a result, he lived in a mess and was confined to his stress. He died shortly after, having drained his bank accounts to fund charities and the people he liked and bestowed hefty credit card debts on his family. His wife and her children were reduced to bankruptcy in the process.

The riches they once bragged about were gone, and their house was put up on the market for sale. Meanwhile, the nephew remained tight-lipped about the surprise “gift” he’d received from his late uncle.

As it turned out, the man’s uncle was determined not to leave him empty-handed. Before he died, he had transferred $60K to his nephew’s account as a “gift” so that he’d have to pay little to no tax.

The man eventually gained access to his funds but kept quiet about the money after witnessing his cousins begging around for financial support. He believed they weren’t a part of his family, especially after it was proven they weren’t born to his uncle.

The nephew felt his aunt and cousins were “just the rude people” he had seen and tolerated for his uncle’s sake. He decided to stay silent about his money and asked random strangers online if he was at fault.

Several Redditors agreed that the guy wasn’t wrong here. “It’s your money. It was given to you as a gift. Your uncle gave you the money for a couple of reasons,” asserted the post’s top-voted commenter, Beavertails11.

User cabbage9988 agreed likewise and reasoned the man’s family, particularly his cousins, were adults and could provide for themselves. “Unless there were times they helped you out that you haven’t mentioned, you owe them nothing,” the Redditor expounded.

As the discussion surged, more people declared that OP wasn’t at fault for keeping the money to himself. Among them was Redditor 5115E, who stated:

“Continue to keep your mouth shut and live your life under the radar. See a financial planner to help you invest it in medium-and long-term goals for yourself.”

OP believed that it took more than DNA to be a family, asserting he couldn’t embrace his aunt and her children as such since they were not related to him.

Although he was uncertain why his uncle didn’t leave a dime for his wife and kids, he surmised he could’ve decided not to so that his wife would never get any financial help. The guy later admitted he never disclosed the money even when his aunt couldn’t afford his uncle’s funeral.

“I’ve contemplated giving them some of the $60,000, but I’m worried they’ll ask where I got the money from and how it can get back to my uncle’s widow and her children,” he explained.

Questions to Ponder:

Would you help your uncle’s family despite knowing your aunt had cheated on him and your cousins aren’t biologically his?

When the man’s uncle found out his wife had cheated on him and the kids he raised weren’t his, he was left in the dark and eventually died, leaving his family bankrupt with hefty debts. The guy didn’t help his aunt and her kids because they had often looked down upon others in the family and were never biologically related. Would you do the same to your uncle’s family, or would you forgive them at some point and help them?

Do you think the man’s cousins had to bear the burden of their mom’s infidelity?

In one of his comments, the guy claimed his aunt was at fault for cheating on his uncle, but her children had nothing to do with her affair though they were rude and entitled. Do you think it’s fair to punish children and expose them to hostility because their parent has broken barriers with an extramarital affair? How would you deal with the situation if you were the aunt’s children?

If you liked reading this story, here’s a similar one about how a wealthy man’s daughter sparked family drama by wanting all her siblings to take a DNA test after rumors two of them aren’t her dad’s.

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