Dear Blake,
I have two sisters. We were very close until our mother passed away two years ago. In her trust, the proceeds from the sale of her house were to be divided among the three of us. Only one sister has children. (They are grown.) My two sisters have decided we should split the proceeds from Mom’s house (about $800,000) five ways to include the adult children. Their mother has threatened to “disown me” if I don’t go along with the five-way split.
I have always done right by her “kids,” and neither sister bothered to ask for my reason for not wanting to include my nephew and niece in the inheritance. I love my sisters and do not want to lose them, but I also don’t want to be bullied into a decision I cannot support.
Signed, Savannah
From Santa Monica, California
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Dear Savannah,
First of all, I’m sorry for your loss regarding your mother. I’m also sorry for the loss, of both of your sister’s sanity. So, here is some advice on trying to deal with those hucksters. Tell your two miser sisters, that they are free to give any amount of their third to the two greedy kids that are begging for money. Or, tell them that your mother verbally told you not to give any of them a dime, until after they submitted to a drug test. If the results come back negative, still refuse to give them anything, alleging that they hid their drug abuse so cleverly, that you feel they are too devious to be given a large sum of money. Or this idea. If you want to gain some allies, split it five ways, give yourself, your niece and nephew, and both of your sister’s kids a slice of the pipe. Your sisters may hate you for life, but the other four will be your ally for life… or at least until the money runs out. Lastly, you can do this and you would still be honoring your mother’s request. You keep $798,000 and give each sister $1000.00. Your mother said divide the money three ways, but she didn’t say divide it evenly. When you make your proposal, you won’t have to worry about being disowned, because your sister will disown her own kids, for putting her in such a position. I hope this helps.
Blake