It’s been said that grief is the price we pay for love. But what about the price we pay for sentimentality?

Fewer things tear apart a family than the question of: “Who gets what?”

Especially when there’s no will to clear things up.

One man took to the internet to help him settle this debate.

Here’s what happened.

AITA for demanding my late father’s guitar even though my stepmom says it should go to my baby half-brother?

My dad passed away last year.

I’m 27 now, and my dad was the kind of guy who always had a guitar in his hands when I was growing up.

Some of my earliest memories are of him playing old country songs on that Taylor guitar.

He taught me my first chords on it.

He’d bring it to family gatherings, to camping trips, even just pull it out in the living room on a random Tuesday.

It wasn’t just an instrument—it was his thing, and kind of ours too.

There’s definitely no debating the sentimental value here.

By the time my younger siblings were born (I have two half-siblings from his second marriage), his health had started to decline.

He barely played in the last few years of his life.

One of those half-siblings is just a toddler now (barely two) so obviously has no memory of my dad playing guitar.

But after the funeral, when I gently asked my stepmom if I could have the guitar, she told me, “No, I’m saving it for our son. It was his father’s guitar, and he deserves to have something of his dad’s.”

Yikes. Pretty harsh.

I was stunned.

I tried to explain that the guitar wasn’t just a “thing” to me—it was my dad. I grew up watching him play that guitar.

That instrument holds so much memory for me.

He never even held our little brother while playing it because by then he was too weak to strum.

But she wouldn’t budge.

Feels like she may be using the kid as an excuse?

I didn’t push it at the time out of respect for her grief, but it still eats at me.

We had no formal will—everything went to her as his legal spouse.

I know she legally can do whatever she wants, but it feels so unfair that she’s holding onto something she knows I have a deep emotional connection to, just to give it to a baby who won’t understand it for decades, if ever.

Sounds like it’s not about the baby.

She recently told me that asking again would just “cause drama,” and that it’s “selfish” of me to try to take something away from my brother.

I haven’t brought it up since, but I feel like I’m mourning my dad and now I’m mourning this piece of him too. My friends are split—some say I should just let it go, others say I have every right to be upset.

It’s tough to know when to pick your battles.

So… AITA for still wanting the guitar, even though my stepmom says it should go to my little half-brother?

Let’s see what the good folks of Reddit had to say.

Firstly, the abnormal nature of the post was called out.

Fair enough. Some folks, especially fellow musicians, came out of the woodwork to offer sympathy.

Some of the more heated commenters went straight for revenge.

Though some took more of a levelheaded approach.

Though largely, Reddit was able to offer a decent bit of reassurance.

This takes “when there’s a will, there’s a way” to a whole new level.

The stepmom is really being unreasonable and kind of heartless.

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.