In an ideal world, siblings would all grow up together, equally loved, and thriving so that they can do what siblings do best – mess with one another but be there for one another with their whole hearts.

But the world doesn’t always work like that, and the older brother in this story has had custody of his younger sister for three years now.

He’s doing his best, but there are certain obstacles that his estranged mother keeps presenting.

And the latest – the possession of the teenage girl’s personal documents, is causing a rift in the family.

Read on to find out what happened.

AITA for not returning my sister’s vital documents to our mother?

I am a 26-year-old man, and I I have been the current de facto guardian of my sister (seventeen, female) since she was fourteen and I was 23.

Recently we needed to get my sister’s driving certificate upgraded into her first license, so we needed her vital documents, including her social security card and birth certificate, in addition to a lot of other stuff to be able to prove all the necessary things to the DMV.

During a period in which my aunt (39, female) and my sister were in the good books of my mom (42, female), she convinced her to send up these things to my aunt, who let me use them.

But after securing the driver’s license, I made a point to let my aunt know that we didn’t have any plans on giving these documents back to my mom.

Let’s see how this caused problems within the family.

To give my aunt’s side first, she promised my mom that she would send them back.

Technically she was supposed to send them back prior to us even receiving them, as while in postage from Florida to Delaware my mom starting going off on my sister over the phone and didn’t even want her to get anything after that.

Currently, my mom harasses my aunt nightly with calls and texts from text now numbers so that she can’t be blocked, causing restless nights for my aunt who has three children, the youngest of which is pre Pre-K young.

My aunt assures me that she has already ordered a new copy of the birth certificate, and that we can get my sister’s dad (because a parent is needed) to get a new social security card ordered before she is eighteen if she needs it.

But this brother isn’t about to just succumb to his mom’s wishes.

My reasoning is that first of all, they’re my sister’s documents. Literally the only human being that has a (legal) use for them is her.

My sister turns eighteen in about nine more months, and is in her senior year of high school.

She’s had to deal with a lot of jumping straight into the deep end of being an adult without a developed support system (i.e. parents) already, without making her have to replace all of her own stuff straight away.

And replacing them pre-18 is an involved process of wrangling her dad, who she really doesn’t like interacting with.

And he’s suspicious about why his mom even wants them back anyway.

My mother only wants the documents back to be petty, as she has not talked to or supported my sister emotionally, monetarily, or physically in any way in over three years – it’s literally all me.

This is the second time she has moved to Florida and left my sister up here – and it’s her third time abandoning her kids in general.

Lastly, when it comes to the harassing of my aunt, I do feel bad but I am pragmatic about it as well.

I told both my aunt and sister not to deal with my mom because she’s unstable and not a great person, but my aunt was on an “everyone can change” kick, and roped my sister into it as well.

Though his aunt finally sees his mom for who she is, little is changing.

Now the switch has flipped, but my aunt won’t take the more drastic measures someone would normally take when anyone literally harasses you every night.

Her reason? Because my mom is family, and she wants me and my sister to give into her demands.

But this is what my family has done to enable my mom her whole life, and I refuse to have me and my sister be a part of that.

AITA?

This guy seems to be doing a great job for his sister, it’s just a shame that he even has to in the first place.

It’s clear that his mom’s terrible behavior has enabled her for too long, and now her children are having to pick up the pieces.

And that’s a responsibility that no kid should ever have to take on.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit had to say about this.

This person thought that as her legal guardian, this big brother should be the holder of the documents.

And others thought that he was the only one trying to protect his sister.

Meanwhile, this Redditor encouraged them to take extra steps to keep his sister safe.

It’s clear that his mom does not have her children’s best interests at heart, and should not be trusted with these important documents.

Moreover, the way she is treating her sister and her kids is totally unacceptable.

Sure, her sister doesn’t want to report her for harassment, but it’s important that she stands up to her – for the sake of the whole rest of the family.

As for the big brother.

He’s clearly the only fully responsible adult here.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.