Funerals can bring out a lot of family drama, especially when inheritance is involved.
It doesn’t even have to be inheritance that is worth a lot of money to cause drama.
Sometimes sentimental things are even more valuable.
In today’s story, grandparents treat their step grandkids the same way they treat their biological grandkids.
The step grandkids had no idea how the grandparents really felt about them until the grandmother’s funeral.
Let’s see how the family drama escalates…
AITA for blaming my dad and stepmother for my stepsiblings thinking they would get a grandkid inheritance?
My dad and stepmother got married when I (17f) was 7 and my brother (19m) was 9.
My stepmother had two kids of her own who were 2 and 4 at the time.
Our other parents have passed. Their dad and my mom.
She and her brother remained in contact with their maternal grandparents.
Their dad died while my stepmother was pregnant.
My mom died 19 months before dad remarried.
The only extended family my brother and I had was our mom’s side and when dad remarried he insisted my stepsiblings had to be included or they couldn’t see us.
Grandparents rights were not available at the time so my grandparents agreed but they made it clear to dad they were only including our steps because they loved us and wanted to see us.
The grandparents were true to their word but never changed their minds about how they felt.
So whenever we saw our grandparents, my stepsiblings did, and they grew really attached despite my grandparents never feeling any different.
My stepsiblings were a way to see my brother and me, not more grandkids or family in any way to my grandparents.
It was the same for the rest of my extended family.
They were treated fine but they were never loved or wanted.
Their grandparents passed.
Grandpa passed in 2020 and my grandma passed a month ago.
Grandpa’s funeral was done over zoom but grandma’s wasn’t.
My stepmother tried to send my stepsiblings up to the grandkid section at the funeral but an aunt and uncle stepped in and said it was only for grandkids.
The grandparents didn’t make memory books for the stepsiblings.
After the (non religious) service each grandkid got our “grandkid inheritance” which was a lovingly made memory book that our grandparents did for us and had entries up until the day before grandma died.
My stepsiblings got nothing.
This devastated them and there has been an atmosphere ever since.
Now their parents are mad at her.
My dad and stepmother are furious and went crazy on my aunts and uncles about letting it happen.
Then my dad told me I needed to show some sibling love and loyalty and take a stand against my extended family but I refused.
My dad told me that wasn’t okay and that I could not be so selfish.
My stepmother said I owed it to my stepsiblings.
She refuses to turn her back on her extended family.
I told them none of this was my fault and I would not turn away from my family over it.
They said I was by choosing my extended family.
I told them they are my family. I will not push them away.
She let her feelings out…
They said it was cruel what they let happen.
I said it was their (dad and stepmother’s) fault in the first place.
I told my stepmother she knew my grandparents only included her kids because they wanted to see me and my brother and that dad had made them do it.
She blamed her stepmother.
I said they should never have let the kids believe they were grandkids to my grandparents.
They were the cruel ones knowing my family had never loved the kids.
And I said I would not stand against my family over this.
They flipped over me blaming them and they said my brother and I lacked empathy and compassion like our extended family did.
AITA?
It’s too bad the grandparents didn’t make memory books for the step siblings too.
They’re no longer here, so nobody can really be mad at them, but really, if they had just made memory books for the step siblings, there wouldn’t be a problem.
Let’s see how Reddit reacted…
The dad and stepmom are the ones who lied.
The whole situation really is the dad and stepmom’s fault.
The dad is to blame.
Here’s a warning about the memory book…
And here’s a warning about any other inheritance…
There are consequences to lying.
My heart hurts for those poor kids though!
If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.