What would you do if you felt like your mom was trying to cheat you out of insurance money that was rightfully yours? Would you fight her for it to make sure it’s shared equally, or would you let her have it all because she has been generous to you in the past?

The woman in today’s story is in this exact situation, and she’s not sure what to do.

Let’s read all the details.

WIBTA If I (F28) go to court against my mother (F50)

My father died in an accident back in 2020.

There was a wrongful death suit as he was killed by a commercial vehicle. The total paid to my family was $2m.

My mother decided that her, myself, and my brothers would split it equally.

Legally, the spouse is entitled to 75% and children are entitled to split 25% amongst themselves. So this was very generous of her.

She did this out of her own free will and said she felt this was the most fair option.

Her mother made a questionable decision.

Five years later, there’s been a lot of drama in my family due to my mom.

We were close but then last year she started talking to a man in Vegas (we live in the Midwest) and married him in secret at some point.

I have no idea when she got married.

She let us know she’d be moving out there and left my 17 year old brother alone with 11 days notice.

It gets worse.

She paid the mortgage and utilities but he was responsible for food, clothes, etc.

During this time she also used one of my siblings credit to sign up for some credit cards and then defaulted on those.

During this, I was pregnant and postpartum. My husband and I are very blessed but it added to my stress a lot.

She got an unexpected letter in the mail.

I recently got a letter from an attorney with an affidavit to sign saying that I am waiving my claim to any money I’m eligible for an insurance payout.

I had never heard anything about this so I called.

The attorney represents my dad’s car insurance. It’s $50k that’s being paid out to all immediate family members. Family can decide how money is divided or go before a judge.

To be clear, I am 100% legally entitled to a portion of this. This isn’t a situation where it’s legally going to my mother and we’re trying to find a loophole.

She found out what her mom had told the attorney.

The attorney said they’ve been in contact with my mom for over 6 months. She said we had agreed to her getting everything and she’d decide how to divide it. The attorney couldn’t move forward without our signatures so I got that letter.

I called my mom and she was wishy-washy.

She said we were signing an agreement not to sue and said she signed it. She didn’t mention anything about money.

She asked her mom about the money.

She visited me a few weeks later and I talked to her.

She said since she’d been so generous it was a given that all of this would go to her. So she didn’t tell us because it was so obvious.

It’s not life changing money. But I did just have a baby and it would help put my family into a better spot while we might be headed into a recession.

If my mom had come to me upfront and asked for the money there’s a good chance I would have been alright with it. But at this point, I can’t deny that she likely tried to lie about get the insurance payout without any of us knowing.

She’s not sure what to do.

So, should I move forward with going to court if my mom won’t negotiate? Or am I being selfish and my mom should be entitled to all of it?

My father would not have wanted all of it to go to my mom. But they had a bad relationship so I can’t use that as a metric to make my decision.

Her mom was very generous earlier, but that doesn’t mean her daughter has to be generous now when she could also benefit from the money.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

Her mom’s new husband might be the real problem.

Here’s a vote for going to court.

Another person was in a similar situation.

This is a good point.

That is a lot of money.

What’s fair is fair, and her mom is not being fair.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.