May 31, 2024 at 5:22 am

She Found Out Her Parents Blew Her College Tuition Money, So Now She’s Thinking About Suing Them

by Matthew Gilligan

Source: Reddit/AITA

This story is a real bummer…

Parents are supposed to set good examples and do the right thing (at least I think so), but it seems like this young woman’s mom and dad didn’t get those instructions…

And now she’s fired up!

Is she doing anything wrong?

Let’s see what’s going on here…

WIBTA if I put a lien against my parents’ house and sued them for my college tuition?

“I, 17 F, am graduating high school next month and am set to attend my first-choice college with a partial scholarship in the fall.

It’s an in-state school about an hour away, and because of my dual enrollment credits, I should only be 5 semesters from finishing my bachelor’s degree and then going for the master’s degree I need for the career I want.

There was an arrangement in place.

Five years ago my Mamaw, (mom’s mom) passed away, leaving behind a college fund for me and my siblings, Kyle (M25) and Kelsey (F22). Mom’s Aunt Teresa was supposed to oversee it, but she passed away in 2020, and somehow my parents wound up in charge.

I don’t know all the details because I was 12 when Mamaw passed away and 14 when Aunt Teresa passed away. I’m not even sure exactly how it was structured or how much there was, except that it was supposed to be enough to cover a significant amount of our expenses if not everything.

Kelsey is a fine arts major and her first year of college was derailed by lockdowns, and she wound up losing an entire year.

She was supposed to go back for her final year next fall just as I am starting college, but last night at our Grandpa’s birthday dinner (Dad’s dad) she announced that she had been invited to participate in a Junior Artist in Residence study program and was deferring her last year of college.

Everyone congratulated her and my grandparents asked about what sort of stipend she was getting. She said there wasn’t one, but Mamaw’s money would cover her living expenses.

My uncle said that between me starting college and them covering that, the fund would be empty soon, and would her share be enough to pay for her final year after?

Then she got the big news.

That’s when my dad said that since I had scholarships and my sister needed it more, I wouldn’t be getting any of the money Mamaw left for us.

Everyone was shocked and started asking questions, but my parents insisted that it was important to support my sister’s artistic goals “the way we never were”, and that I’d be fine.

When my grandparents argued with them, Mom said I could take out loans for what my scholarship didn’t cover and live at home to save money. I was in tears and my sister was upset that people weren’t happier for her.

When my uncle asked if there was even going to be money left for my sister to go back and graduate, my parents said they would take out a loan against the house to cover it.

Yikes…

Everyone got in a huge argument and my parents and sister left. My grandparents, uncle, and aunt got to talking and my uncle, who is a lawyer, says he’s going to look into it and that we may have to sue them for my share of the college money because he believes they mismanaged it.

My grandparents are worried about them mortgaging the house and losing it, and suggested we take out a lien against the house for my tuition money so they can’t use it to get a loan to pay for my sister’s expenses.

WIBTA if I sued my parents for my college tuition and put a lien against their house like my grandparents suggested?”

Reddit users shared their thoughts.

This person spoke up.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Another individual said she’s NTA.

Source: Reddit/AITA

One Reddit user shared their thoughts.

Source: Reddit/AITA

This individual had a lot to say.

Source: Reddit/AITA

And one person nailed it.

Source: Reddit/AITA

That’s just a sad story all around…

Poor kid.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.