Couple returns to find 94-year-old grandma sobbing on their deck. When they pulled her bank statements, they realized how much worse it actually was
The FIL did not know the extent of his wife's treatment of his mother
People expect elderly members of the family to be treated with dignity, love, and respect, but that is not always the case. On June 28, 2026, a man who goes by u/Chahles88 on Reddit shared that his MIL had dropped off her MIL (wife's grandmother) at their house. The 94-year-old lady was sobbing and was determined not to go back after living with them for 10 years. After a 3-hour conversation, the author, his wife, and BIL found that their grandma was not just mistreated but financially exploited by the MIL, as well. The post has received 795 upvotes and 72 comments.
Mistreated by her daughter-in-law
The author revealed that his MIL was not an easy woman to get along with. There had been several disagreements between him and her in the past. However, her resentment towards their grandmother had been going on for years. The grandma had endometrial cancer and continence issues, but she was a sweet and easy-going woman. However, the MIL made fun of her continence issues, yelled at her, never let her spend time with the kids, forced-fed her heavy meals, and would get angry when she did not eat everything.
"MIL tries to force her to go on walks in the heat and she refuses, but then she won’t invite her to lunch with the grandkids because 'grandma just wants to sit and rot in her room,'" the author noted. The old woman was traumatized by her DIL and wanted to live with her other son.
Sketchy transfer for 'future emergency'
The couple discovered their grandma paid $1,500 monthly for rent and food, even though the author's in-laws had a pension, social security, and no mortgage. The author added, "There is also this sketchy transfer of $50k they made in case grandma has to go into a care facility that will apparently fund it, but they needed the money in their account for some reason." Finally, the author's wife and BIL brought up the issue with their father.
Apparently, he did not know how serious it was. On the last day before she flew to her other son's house, the author's FIL said that his "mother has never even raised her voice at him from now all the way back to childhood, and for her to be this angry at them is absolutely heartbreaking." The author had hoped that she would take him up on his offer to stay with them.
MILs — frenemy or enemy?
A survey by Galtime.com revealed that 23.9% of women considered their MIL a "frenemy," while 12.9% see her as an "outright enemy." Additionally, 60% of MILs see their DILs as daughters, while 10% view them as enemies. The author's story is one-sided. We got to know how the grandmother was treated by her daughter-in-law. However, we remain oblivious to why she harbored that much resentment towards her MIL. When it was time for the grandma to leave, everyone came to say goodbye except for the MIL, showing where their relationship stood.
Elder abuse to another level
People were calling out the MIL for elder abuse and advised the author to find their grandma a lawyer. u/Stormywillow commented, "My lord, I'm ready to throw hands, and I've never met the h*rpy. Best of luck, OP, and please give grandma a gentle hug for me!" u/sarcasmf wrote, "Quite frankly, this is elder abuse on a vulnerable person, financially, and physically, the force feeding and the over-withdrawal of her account. This is beyond petty and awful. This is abusive and illegal, and she should be reported to the proper authorities."
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