OP drove Redditors to disbelief after he refused to give his daughter’s college fund to his stepdaughter. His wife had a different take on the situation. Here is the whole story.
Double Daughters
OP is a middle-aged man with a 17-year-old daughter from his first marriage. His current wife has a 17-year-old daughter, too, also from a previous marriage.
When OP and his first wife got divorced, they remained friends and worked hard to give their daughter as stable an upbringing as they could.
Part of that was deciding on finances early on. They agreed that OP would pay for most of their daughter’s growing-up expenses while his ex saved for college.
Not Discussing Details
They never really talked much about details after that, and they just went about the business of raising their daughter. OP didn’t ask how much money his wife was saving for the college fund.
OP married his second wife seven years ago. At that time, they talked through what the future might hold for their girls.
Neither OP’s new wife nor her ex-husband had saved much for their daughter. OP told his wife that his ex was working on his own daughter’s college fund.
Tragedy Struck
Given those details, OP and his new wife decided to start saving for her daughter’s education. Even so, they were only able to sock away little bits here and there, and they never built up a considerable amount.
Then, two years ago, OP’s ex-wife died suddenly. And that’s when the troubles really started.
As OP and his daughter started working through the details after his ex died, they realized that she had saved a lot of money over the years.
A Large College Fund
Not only had OP’s ex-wife accumulated a large college fund for her daughter, but she also put away a big chunk of extra money.
And the girl’s mom had earmarked that extra savings as spending money for her daughter. OP thought that was great and had no intention of going against his ex’s wishes.
But when OP’s new wife found out that his ex had saved so much money for his daughter, she had other plans.
She Wanted the Cash
In particular, she wanted him to use some of it for her own daughter’s college fund.
OP wanted no part of that, though, and told his wife that she couldn’t touch the money for her daughter. They would stick with their plan of saving whatever they could, but they wouldn’t dip into his daughter’s money.
OP’s wife didn’t like that answer, but they still had a couple of years before it really came to a head.
Close to Family
Then, as the girls neared graduation, OP’s daughter told him she was going to start out at a community college near her mom’s parents.
She wanted to spend time with her mom’s folks while still getting a start on her education. OP didn’t see a problem with that and was happy she had a plan.
But that opened the door for OP’s wife to make a grab for his daughter’s money again. She said that since the girl was going to community college, she had money to burn.
No Claim!
So OP’s ex thought he should share some of his daughter’s money with his stepdaughter.
OP stood his ground, though, and repeated to his wife that she had no claim to his daughter’s money. He doesn’t really think he has a claim to it, either, since his ex was the one who saved all of it.
Now, OP is arguing with his wife about the money all the time, but he doesn’t think it’s fair to take money from his daughter.
Consider Divorce
Redditors agree with OP that his wife and stepdaughter have no claim at all to his daughter’s money.
They think his wife is way out of line for even suggesting that he force his daughter to cough up some of the money her mother left her.
Many of them suggest that OP really needs to reexamine his marriage.
They Meanly Stole His Seat So He Got Revenge the Good Ole Catholic School Girl Way
The post While Mourning Her Mother, Her Step-Mom Stakes Claim to Her College Fund: Will Dad Protect Her and Her Mother’s Wishes? first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Dan Race
Source: Reddit