December 11, 2025 at 7:55 am

Granddaughter Finds A Gold Ring While Sorting Her Late Grandma’s Things, But Her Sister Accuses Her Of Stealing A Promised Heirloom

by Diana Whelan

emerald ring on woman's hands

Pexels/Reddit

After years of being her grandmother’s primary caretaker, one woman thought she’d found a small piece of comfort in a simple gold ring she discovered among her inherited belongings.

She’s worn it every day since as a keepsake. That is, until her sister saw it, claimed it was promised to her, and called her a thief.

Now the family’s taking sides over one tiny heirloom with a whole lot of emotion attached.

AITA for “stealing” my dead grandma’s ring?

I (20F) was the primary caretaker for my grandma for about 4 years before she passed away this last April.

I saw my grandma all the time, especially in comparison to my family, who barely visited. When she passed, my direct and extended family obviously showed up to go through her belongings and take what they wanted.

One of these being my sister (31F), who shared a birthday with my grandma. While everyone else grabbed vintage dishes, scrapbooks, and antiques, I grabbed a few small knick-knacks like her glasses case and mini ceramic cat. I also took her bed frame (it was going to be donated and I needed one for college anyway). When it came to jewelry, my cousins took nearly everything.

Oh heck no.

My mom and I did the last sweeps of the house, taking leftover items either to our house or the dump. My sister also left some of her chosen stuff at our house temporarily. Everything just kind of piled up for a while while we grieved.

A month later, I started sorting through my pile and found a gold ring. I wasn’t sure if I’d accidentally grabbed it or if someone had tossed it in my stuff, but I was honestly happy to have something to wear everyday to remind my of my grandma.

I regretted not grabbing any jewelry when we first went through her things.

Makes sense.

For the past 6 months, I’ve worn this ring daily. It’s a simple gold ring with green gem. This morning, my sister came over, saw it sitting in my jewelry tray, and immediately started yelling that I’d stolen it from her.

She said that it was her birthstone (her and my grandma’s shared birthday) and that our grandma said she should have it. Then she told everyone in our family that I stole her ring and left without another word.

For context: my sister only wears silver jewelry, while I’ve always been a gold girl. This ring also fits me perfectly and does not fit her at all. And now she says she is keeping it hidden from me to get it resized for herself.

Well, Sister is way out of sorts.

What frustrates me most is that I’ve always valued sentimental items and take good care of them. My sister, on the other hand, has let her kids destroy multiple childhood items I passed down to them, which were things that meant a lot to me.

One of her main arguments is that I “took a lot” from Grandma because I display everything openly in my room. Meanwhile, she took boxes of old photos, antiques, and holiday dishes that are stored away. So, visually, it looks like I have more, which makes her story much more believable to our family.

So, AITA for thinking I should get to keep the ring? (I probably can’t even get it back now.)

Most readers agreed the granddaughter wasn’t in the wrong, pointing out that she had every reason to believe the ring was part of her inheritance.

This person has questions.

Screenshot 2025 10 29 at 10.21.54 AM Granddaughter Finds A Gold Ring While Sorting Her Late Grandma’s Things, But Her Sister Accuses Her Of Stealing A Promised Heirloom

This person thinks Sister is just jealous.

Screenshot 2025 10 29 at 10.22.00 AM e1761747920473 Granddaughter Finds A Gold Ring While Sorting Her Late Grandma’s Things, But Her Sister Accuses Her Of Stealing A Promised Heirloom

And this person says if there’s a will, then fine…but it doesn’t seem like there is.

Screenshot 2025 10 29 at 10.22.07 AM e1761747916725 Granddaughter Finds A Gold Ring While Sorting Her Late Grandma’s Things, But Her Sister Accuses Her Of Stealing A Promised Heirloom

When grief meets greed, even a gold ring can turn into a family feud.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.