Divorce can be really hard for kids, but in the best-case scenario, the kids still have a good relationship with each of their parents. In the worst-case scenario, one parent abandons the child and refuses to pay child support.

That second scenario is what happened in this story.

But the story doesn’t end there. In fact, the dad tries to make up for it years later by giving his estranged daughter a large check.

That was nice of him, but the daughter is wondering if she was wrong not to give the money back.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for not giving my estranged father’s wife the money he sent me?

My father wasn’t in my (21f) life growing up.

He left mom and me when I was 2 and refused to pay child support.

He quit his job when he was tracked down for support and he spent time in jail rather than pay.

Eventually mom stopped fighting because it was going nowhere. She felt like it was wasting resources chasing after him when it was obvious he was going to avoid it however he could.

But she saw her dad again.

A couple of years ago he moved about an hour away and I saw him for the first time since a court appearance when I was 8.

We didn’t speak either of those times but it surprised me that he came back.

I found out he was married and had more kids from my paternal aunt.

He’d reached out to her and wanted to reconnect and she told him where to go. She was always pretty disgusted he walked away like he did and refused to support me financially.

This was a nice gesture.

In December my aunt told me he went to her house and left something for me there.

I asked her what it was and she had no idea but she said it was in an envelope.

I opened it and it was a check. And it was a big one too.

I tried giving it to my mom but she told me to keep it and he owed me. That he abandoned me. And it was the least I deserved.

I tried telling her she deserved it more but she wouldn’t even entertain the idea. So after confirming it was legit I lodged it into my account.

But her dad’s new wife was furious when she found out.

Then his wife came looking for the money by going to my aunt’s house for me.

My aunt made her leave and I wasn’t even there but she showed up a few days later when I was there and she demanded the money. She said it was money that was meant to go on her kids. That he had no right to drain their accounts for me.

I told her it wasn’t my problem and my aunt threatened to call the cops.

She showed up at my aunts house again a few days after and my aunt followed through and called the cops. But apparently this woman left the message that I was selfish and entitled and I stole it from her kids.

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AITA?

So the dad gave the money to his estranged daughter, and his new wife got mad at the daughter. That’s pretty crazy. She should be mad at her husband if she’s going to be mad at anyone.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person says to keep the money.

Another person points out that the check is back pay for child support.

This person says OP deserves the money.

Another person suggests a restraining order.

She deserves that money. Her dad owes her, and he knew it. It was nice of him to try to make things right after all these years.

His wife sounds awful. She has no reason to be upset, and if she is upset, it’s at the wrong person.