Family Has A Secret Agreement To Withhold My Inheritance

Brought to you by the Everydollar app. Start budgeting for free today. My grandpa passed away about a year ago, and him and I had hung out five years prior to that, just traveling around the country. And during that three to five years, he would consistently tell me, hey, when I die, this truck is yours, you know, and he would repeatedly say that. And when he did die a year ago, and when he, when it came time for the will, I reached out to his kids, my dad, my aunt and uncle. And I said, hey, you know, grandpa said, you want me to have the truck? Is there, is that in the will? Is that just, you know, and they all told me no. And I was surprised because he's never not followed through, but I just said, okay, and I wanted to respect it and not contribute to any conflict. My aunt, I met with my aunt yesterday, and she told me that my grandpa actually left a note attached to the will on a legal piece of paper, saying Zach gets my truck and signed it. And she told me that when it came time of reading will between my dad, my uncle and my aunt, that my dad and my uncle said that they were not going to speak of this note and to never mention it. And they didn't, they didn't give me the truck. And so I was just looking at, I was looking for advice. I mean, if what your aunt said is true, and it sounds like based on your time and relationship with your grandpa, that that sounds plausible and sounds more than plausible. It sounds like that's probably true. I mean, the first thing I would be in your situation is absolutely heartbroken. My dad, my father betrayed his own dad and betrayed his son in this way. You know what I mean? Did this go through probate court? No, he had a, he had a trust or a will. And so there was an executor and a lawyer. And as far as I'm aware, they executed all through that. Have you, have you, do you live by your dad? No. Do you have a good relationship with him? No. My, my grandma passed away. And then my, my grandpa and I have always been best friends. My grandma passed away and my grandpa and I hung out almost every day, every week. When I grew close to my grandpa five years ago, my uncle, my dad started having conversations saying that I was only growing close to my grandpa for money reasons. And they started some, they just started talking in that way. I mean, they can talk all they want, but if it's noted in the will, it's a legal binding document. But are you saying this was like a loose note attached? Summer gets busy fast between vacations, camps, and travel plans. The last thing you need is another thing to manage. That is why I love Delete.me. Delete.me removes your personal information from hundreds of data broker sites that can leave you vulnerable to spammers and they keep monitoring it all year long. And honestly, it feels good knowing that someone is handling it for me. And you can get 20% off an annual plan at join delete.me.com slash Ramsey. That's join delete.me.com slash Ramsey. Yeah. So it was like a sticky note. Cause I don't know that it's going to hold up in court. Yeah, it was, it was written on a legal piece of paper that was sitting on top of the will. And it said, Zach, it's the truck and it was signed. And my aunt said it was all in my grandpa's handwriting. And I don't know your state laws. So I would talk to an attorney to figure out what your state law says about, does this count? Do you have a, do you, can you access this physical evidence or did they get rid of it? I don't. Where is that note? The story that my aunt told me yesterday was that the, the lawyer that was with my aunt, uncle, and my dad in that meeting said that legally they did not have to honor that note because it wasn't in the will. So it's not enforceable. Well, he, right. He said legally it's not an enforceable because it's not inside of that will document. And so if they wanted to ignore it or not honor it, then they were free to do that. And then my aunt said that my uncle, you know, said that, okay, let's all swear to never mention this and this never happened. Man, there was so much dysfunction. Yeah. I mean, that's one of those things that maybe is legally right. I don't think it's morally right. I think your dad and uncle did you, did you wrong? But here's the thing. I don't know what kind of recourse you have unless, I mean, you're, how old are you? I'm 36. Yeah. I mean, I would say, I am thinking of my 16 year old son when I say this, I'm not trying to make some like masculinity statement, but I, I would have a man to man conversation with your dad and your uncle and your aunt has to know that she's going to be right in the middle of it. And it might end up being two brothers versus sister. Did she tell you to swear? You would never say anything. I mean, this sounds so dysfunctional. So middle school, you know what I mean? Oh, absolutely. She said, she said, you can't, she said, no, I swore to them that I would never say anything that no one would ever find out. So she said, you know, she didn't want them to ever find out. So, so what she did was she did something that was morally wrong. And then she has been carrying that cinder block around for a year. And then she just handed it off to you and said, you carry it and don't tell anybody, bro. It's heartbreaking. It is what it is, but legally he's probably correct. And I think you, I mean, if I'm you, I have all I need to know about a dad who had dishonored his son and his father in this way. And you're 36 and I would make my way through the world with that insider information. I don't see any way you get this truck. Are they using the truck right now? Okay. No. They just don't want you to. I questioned them a lot. I'm sorry. Like, is it collecting dust somewhere or are they actually driving it? No, they liquidated it immediately. Yeah. It's gone. They just sold it and took the cash. Yeah. My, my dad, I asked about it a year ago. My dad said he drove it to the dealership and sold it and liquidated it. Yeah. It's gone. I mean, yeah, it's gone. And I mean, you, you, dude, I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know, but I think your grandpa had every intent to give you this truck, but he didn't do a great job actually making it official. Cause this should have been in the will properly witnessed, you know, state specific, all of that to your laws. And I, I don't think based on what the other attorney said that there's any recourse here, but also the relationships are over. Right. But also like my dad has said, Hey, there's a few things. I want my daughter to have it. I want your brother to have this. And this is going to be yours. And we're all moral adults. And so we're like, yeah, cool. It's not like when he dies, we're gonna be like, ha ha ha. He didn't write it down anywhere. You know what I mean? So I don't think your granddad's out to lunch. That's probably, I can see that being handled like that all over the place. You know what I mean? But your, your aunt lacks all moral courage. Your uncle and your dad are immoral. I mean, they're non-integrous people. And so, dude, my rule of thumb is I don't still do business with folks like that. I don't do relationships with folks I can't trust. I mean, they chose that money from the truck sale over the relationship with you. And more importantly, like their relationship, like honoring their dad's wishes. So it is what it is. But yeah, you especially are not going to, I can't see a legal course. If you want to go talk to an attorney, go for it where you could go get the money for the truck. I mean, that's, that seems like it's way down the road, but sorry, brother, I hate this for you. Create your free every dollar budget today, the simplest way to budget for your life.