There should really be no debate when it comes to who is responsible for kids, whether it’s watching them, caring for them, or making things right when they inevitably screw up.

OP starts off by saying that she rarely wears her engagement ring anymore, instead leaving it to sit in her master bedroom closet.

Recently, she had family over, including her young(ish) nephews. They were not being properly supervised, and so I think you can probably guess where this is going.

I hosted a family dinner over the weekend. My brother brought my nephews (4 and 8) over as well.

I used to wear my engagement ring all the time, but lately I keep it in my walk in closet and mainly wear it for special occasions. While I was cleaning up the dinner table, my nephews went to go play while the adults were still in the outdoor patio/outdoor kitchen area. My brother was not supervising his kids.

During this time, my nephews went into the master bedroom without anyone knowing and started playing with everything. Including my engagement ring.

They were in her room, playing with her things, and when they realized they were about to get busted, ran and flushed her ring down the toilet.

When we came to look for them, they paniced because they know they aren’t supposed to be upstairs, ran into the master bathroom and flushed my ring.

We called a plumber in case it was somehow in the u trap of the toilet and not actually gone. But nope. Unfortunately it was gone for good.

Her ring that, as it happens, was worth around $30k.

She wants her brother to pay her back but he says she should just let it go, because they’re kids and they do dumb stuff.

We still had the original receipt, so I called my brother. I emailed him a scanned copy as proof of the cost and asked him to reimburse me for the ring my nephew flushed.

Immediately he started calling me an asshole because we were family and he was just a child. He has refused to repay the cost of my ring.

He says he can’t afford to pay her back anyway, not even in installments, but OP isn’t buying it, based on what she knows about his financial situation.

I don’t believe for a second my brother and his wife cannot pay for the cost of my engagement ring. They don’t make anything near my husband but they have a combined income of around 250k.

They don’t pay rent or anything because my parents gifted them their old house valued at 3.5 million in Toronto, ON, CA back when I bought my parents a new home years ago. There is no mortgage on the home my brother lives in.

The only things my brother and his wife would have to pay for is the cost of raising their children, normal bills, and food. I feel so distraught because my ring holds great sentimental value. I’ve already been speaking with my husband’s family lawyer, but at this point, I’m ready to hire a PI to find out if they really don’t have the money.

The ring, for whatever reason, is not insured.

No, the ring was not insured. I found out the day after my nephew flushed it. My husband says he forgot and in the end never actually insured it.

OP is ready to sue her brother for the money, but her family thinks she’s taking things way too far.

I told him I will be taking him to court for this and now my entire family is blowing up my phone saying family shouldn’t sue each other and just let it go.

Does Reddit agree? They have more than a few thoughts on this one…

The top commenter is on OP’s side, saying the brother is ultimately responsible for the actions of his kids.

No one really disagrees that the brother should pay, but many people, like this person, were not letting the husband off the hook.

While this person is stuck on how an 8yo could really not know better.

They say the rest of the family’s opinions really don’t matter.

This comment says the brother really has no leg to stand on.

These kids are something else, right?

Even if OP should have definitely made sure the ring was insured, that doesn’t mean she should eat the cost on this one, imho.