Should a spouse ever have to share their inheritance with their partner’s mistress?
Marriage can get really messy and complicated. It's not easy to commit to a lifetime of marriage, and thus committing to a lifetime of navigating complex situations with another person.
Data shows that about 40% of marriages in the US will result in separation or divorce; in those cases, it's not uncommon for spouses to go on to find new partners.
These realities were highlighted in a recent online post in which a man passes away, leaves his entire inheritance to his ex-wife, and his girlfriend is now harassing the wife to share the inheritance with her.
Should a spouse ever have to share their inheritance with their partner’s mistress?
A Reddit post published on July 31st, reported on by Rebecca Flood from Newsweek, has gone viral with 14,000 upvotes and 1,900 comments.
The author begins her post by explaining that her ex-husband, who is only 48, unfortunately passed away recently. With that said, despite the separation, he still left everything to her, while he left nothing for his girlfriend.
The author goes on to explain that the girlfriend is now trying to contest the man's will so that she also can get a portion of the inheritance. The author, who has remarried and has two children with her current husband, feels terrible and doesn't know if she's truly entitled to his money. However, she also admits that she's tempted to keep the money because it was clearly his wish for her to have it. The total inheritance comes out to $1.3 million.
The author goes on to explain that she and her ex-husband were together for over a decade, and that she was just 4 months pregnant with their first child when he left her for another woman. He ultimately asked for a divorce and offered to pay her out for their apartment, and that was when she found out about his affair.
Who is entitled to inheritance?
Contesting a will isn't an uncommon event to happen. And in some cases, it's a legitimately important measure to ensure that the distribution of wealth goes to the intended parties. However, it's also entirely justified for a person to be completely left out of a will or not left as much as they expected. In those cases, a person may also choose to contest the will.
The author explains that her ex-husband tried to reach out to her several times over the years, including after she had a miscarriage with their first child. He reached out not long ago when he was terminally ill, but she refused to see him again even though it was his "last wish".
Along with his will was a letter to the author explaining that he was sorry for everything he did. He stated that he'd never stopped loving or thinking about her, and in his mind, she was still his wife. He also said that he never got over the loss of their baby, and felt responsible for causing the miscarriage. Leaving his fortune to the author was his way of making amends with her after all the pain and hurt he had caused.
The woman he had left her for, who is now 33, was left nothing in his will, and now the author is being pressured by her ex-in-laws to “be fair and share the money with the girlfriend" who will "now be left on the street". The girlfriend is also threatening to contest the will, and accused the author of ‘using and abusing her late ex-husband’.
What do you think? Is the author entirely justified to keep the full inheritance that her ex-husband purposely left her, even if it means his girlfriend of 8 years gets nothing? Or should the author be kinder to the girlfriend, who just lost her partner, and share a portion of the wealth with her?
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