Widow refusing to give stepdaughter inheritance after husband's death gets a reality check

Inheritance disputes can be a tricky affair. Moreover, dividing them without meticulous thought can sometimes lead to unpleasant situations. Something similar happened with this family when a husband died and left nothing for his 16-year-old daughter born with his ex. A widow, Spiritual_Alps3413, took to Reddit to ask the community if she was at fault for inheriting her husband's entire estate and not sharing a dime with her stepdaughter. "My (32F) husband passed away earlier this year. Our children (6F, 3M) and I inherited his entire estate, which in total is worth almost a million dollars," she wrote in the post.

She then talked about her husband and mentioned that he had a child with his first girlfriend. "When he was in high school, my husband had a child (16F) with his girlfriend at that time. He broke up with his girlfriend once he found out she was pregnant, saying he wasn't ready to be a father yet. He visited her maybe once every few years when he was alive," she continued. She then mentioned how her husband's stepdaughter and mother are really poor. "My stepdaughter and her mother are very poor. They have struggled financially ever since my husband's death, as they no longer receive child support. They're struggling to pay rent and risk getting evicted," the widow shared.

The widow mentioned in the post that her stepdaughter had reached out and was "begging for her share of the inheritance." She added, "I feel bad for her, but my husband clearly stated in his will that he wanted to leave his estate to me and my children only. I barely even know my stepdaughter and I don't think it's my responsibility to take care of her. She's furious with me, calling me a heartless gold digger and saying that giving her money was the least I could do to make up for years of neglect." The widow concluded her post by asking people whether she was wrong in the situation.

People in the comments were not so happy with how the widow treated her stepdaughter. "This has to be rage-bait. In the US, you CAN'T disinherit a minor child," wrote u/2moms3grls. u/Technical_Shelter519 shared, "It makes you feel good about yourself knowing this poor child might become homeless. It is not her fault her father basically abandoned her. You could give them something to help out. Is this what you are going to teach your own children?" Others could not help but call out the father for letting his daughter live in poverty.

u/NGLImmaRodger added, "Deadbeat dad watches a child living in poverty. They're about to get evicted. Your stepdaughter asks for a crumb of their father's estate. The father who abandoned them and you're like, Nah, he didn't want that. Legally, you might be correct. However, depending on where you live, that's even up for debate." Further mentioning the situation, u/naysayer1984 pointed out, "Stepdaughter's mom needs to file for social security for her since he can no longer pay child support. Because, well, he's dead. As far as suing and getting half of the estate?? Good luck with that. Also, the wife of the dead husband is not at all responsible for the stepdaughter. She will not, under any circumstances, have to pay child support for the stepdaughter."