Some people think favors last a lifetime, but that’s not always true.

What would you do if your roommate moved out but left behind an urn full of their late husband’s ashes? Would you hold onto the ashes for them indefinitely, or would there come a point when you would want to get rid of them?

This woman was asked to keep her former roommate’s late husband’s ashes, and years later, she doesn’t want to hang onto them anymore.

What would you do?

Read the full story below to see how she got stuck in this situation.

AITA If I throw away someone’s remains if no one in his family wants his ashes?

My roommate and I shared an apartment from 2018 to 2022.

She was separated from her husband when he died in 2021. He was cremated, and the ashes were mailed to her.

She kept him in a box in a closet in the laundry room.

This woman kept some of her roommate’s stuff, including the ashes of her deceased husband.

In 2022, she bought an RV and moved to Brenham to be near her daughter and grandchildren.

She asked me to hold on to the ashes and a few other things like pictures and clothing.

I agreed.

She couldn’t be near the ashes. They set her on edge and just rattled her.

She and her roommates had a falling out.

We had a falling out over money. It was more than $5K.

I haven’t heard from her since September 2024.

I know she has some serious health issues she is dealing with.

I really don’t want to talk to her, so my feelings aren’t hurt.

She reached out to one of her roommate’s sons.

I reached out to her son on Messenger in February 2025.

Her son, Dom Jr. is a real estate agent.

I told her about his father’s ashes.

He responded, but has made no effort to retrieve the ashes either.

Her roommate’s youngest son is still living in his backyard.

Did I mention she also basically walked away from her youngest son? She left him living in an RV in my backyard.

It was supposed to be a short-term favor but has turned into 3 years of her 40-something son living on my 6 acres.

Not to mention, he has schizophrena, and bipolar disorder with audio hallucinations.

She didn’t want to give him the ashes.

I would give him the ashes, but I don’t think he would handle it well at all. I don’t know what kind of episode it could trigger.

He took the death badly as his whole world and knew it ended.

He’s never lived on his own, and he is not doing a very good job at it.

So, she finally decided to just throw the ashes if no one claims it.

I made a decision.

If no one made arrangements to come get these ashes in February, I’m putting them in the dumpster.

AITA if I do?

If that’s her decision, she should tell the family that ahead of time so they know they need to get the ashes by a certain date.

Let’s see what others have to say about this on Reddit.

This person shares an idea on what she could do.

Here are a few more suggestions from this person.

This person thinks burying the ashes is better than spreading them.

This similar story sounds uplifting.

And lastly, short and simple.

Some people just don’t care about their deceased loved ones.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.