He Did Years of Free Contracting Work on His In-Laws’ Properties. They Made Him Sign Away Any Claim to Them, and He Felt Insulted
Pexels/Reddit
Some people will do anything to protect their money, even if it means insulting the person who has been saving them thousands.
One man had spent years doing major renovations on his wife’s family’s properties as a contractor, and he never charged them a cent. He also caught problems early that would have cost far more to fix later.
Then his father-in-law decreed that every spouse sign paperwork waiving any claim to those properties after a divorce or death. He signed, but it felt like being handed a bill for the trust he’d already earned.
When they asked him to keep working for free, he said no, and his wife called him a jerk.
Keep reading for the full story.
AITAH for refusing to help my in-laws with their properties after they made me sign paperwork protecting them from me?
My wife’s family owns several properties, and her dad, in the last year, insisted that all spouses sign paperwork waiving any legal claim to those properties in the event of a divorce or their death.
I signed, as I never expected to get those anyways.
But this stung, for several good reasons.
I do admit the ask felt cold and like a double standard. For almost our entire marriage, I’ve been the sole income earner, paid all our living expenses, and put my wife’s name on every asset we own.
I’ve also regularly helped my in-laws with renovations and maintenance on the family properties. I’m a contractor by trade and have done major work for them and never charged them a dime.
He’s done his best to save his in-laws money when he could, because he thought that’s just what family did.
I’ve also alerted them to issues early that would have cost way more to fix later if I didn’t point them out. I’ve always been happy to help because they were family.
I understand wanting to protect generational wealth, but it feels insulting to be trusted with my income and free labor while being treated like a potential threat to their assets.
So when they had the audacity to turn around and ask him for help, he finally started putting his foot down.
Since signing, they’ve asked me to help with the properties again, and I’ve refused. My wife thinks I’m being a jerk, and my in-laws are angry with me.
They feel I’m taking the paperwork too personally, but I feel like the relationship has changed.
I’m not asking for anything that belongs to them. I just don’t feel comfortable continuing to provide free labor when I no longer feel like a trusted member of the family.
AITA?
If they want to treat him like a liability, then why should he continue to bend over backwards for them?
What did Reddit think?
He’s simply protecting himself. His in-laws should understand that.
If these in-laws are all about business, why not make them a proposition of his own?
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This user provides a potential script.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an adult child who feels like their family is asking them to donate to a fundraiser beyond their means.
This user puts it best.
His wife needs to wake up and start paying a little more attention to what’s happening around her.
Her husband has spent years paying the bills, fixing her family’s buildings, and saving them money, and the thanks he got was a waiver? That’s pretty messed up.
If the family has a right to protect their properties, fine, but they just can’t treat him like a threat on paper and a free contractor in practice.
Free labor ends when trust does.
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