Family in all-out inheritance war after huge secret revealed in grandma’s will

A woman has asked for advice after refusing to split her inheritance with her family when she learned of a big family secret in her grandma's will. The unnamed woman, aged 27, explained how she had been left her dad's portion of her grandma's inheritance when she died but left him and the woman's brother nothing.

She went on to explain how she had never met her grandad, with her dad claiming he was "toxic" and the pair had a very difficult relationship.

After her grandad died, the family began spending more time with their grandma, describing her as a "sweet old lady" who "just loved us so much".

After her grandma passed away last year, she was called to speak to a lawyer, along with her two aunties.

Writing on Reddit, she explained: "She died with a house worth more than £500,000 (for context she lived near Oxford) to her name, and over £200,000 worth of cash and other heirlooms. When we went through the inheritance, the lawyer explained that she divided it into three equal parts. It was between her two daughters and me, who got my dad's share of the inheritance. She left her son nothing. When my dad found out, he protested and asked how was that possible but I wasn't too concerned.

"During the proceedings, my grandma's lawyer who was in charge of the inheritance, gave me a letter written by her a year ago. In this letter, to be read after her death, she explained that her husband (my grandad) had disowned my dad completely. This is because my dad is not my brother's actual father as he's a child from a relationship my mum had previously. My dad met my mum when she was pregnant with my brother.

"My grandparents, my grandad, in particular, thought this was extremely weird. He did not approve of this and was vehemently against it. My dad didn't listen and married my mom a year after my brother was born, which prompted my grandad to excommunicate him for good. During the years my grandma stayed in contact with my dad but we (my brother and I) did not meet her until after my grandad died. The thing is, neither my brother nor I knew that my dad wasn't his biological father.

"A day later, my dad called me to discuss the inheritance but I didn't want to meet him. He doesn't know that I know and I don't know how to tell him I know. I haven't received any money yet but based on this I feel like I will not share it. My family are understandably calling me greedy but I just don't really trust them anymore. This is already causing heavy division in my family and now I feel like dropping this news will destroy my family completely, should I just be truthful about the reasoning or what should I do?"

Commenters appeared divided when offering advice, with one writing: "Your grandma had a clear reason for what she did, so it's not like there's any 'funny business' that would make her will invalid."

A second chimed in: "It's your inheritance. It was left to you. You would not be greedy for not sharing it. I really hate how people act like they are entitled to other peoples stuff."

But others disagreed, with some calling the dad's actions in raising another man's son "an act of pure love". One said: "If anything, her dad was the good guy here. Also her brother didn't do anything wrong. If anything it's the grandpa being an a** from the other side of his grave and seeding hate in an otherwise seemingly happy family."

A fourth said: "Honestly, she sounds greedy. Granted it's an inheritance, dad got written out of the inheritance for a spurious reason. She doesn't have to do the right thing, which would be to share it."