Woman Made SIL Cry & Brother Angry After Refusing To Give Them Her Grandmother’s Jewelry For Their Wedding

Aug 11, 2023 by apost team

Inheritance is supposed to be a non-dramatic issue for families as everything is dictated by formal writing made by the benefactor while they are still in willful and conscious orientation. However, what makes these kind of issues dramatic is when one of the heirs strongly believe that they should have received more than what they were intended to have. 

In the case of one woman who took her frustrations to the AITA Thread on Reddit in July 2023, she was wondering if she was in the wrong for refusing to give her sister-in-law and brother the jewelry that she inherited from her grandparents. 

According to the Original Poster (OP), u/PlanktonJealous2104, her dad cheated on his wife with her mom back in the day. But despite this, the couple stayed together. However, as soon as her mother died, she was raised by her grandparents, who also recently passed away, as her stepmother didn’t want her in their house. Before her grandparents died, so did her father, which complicated who they left things to in their will.

“My dad died before them so everything was willed to my half brother (28) and I. I inherited their house, almost everything in it, and all of my grandma’s jewelry, which is worth about $750,000. I was also the sole beneficiary to their life insurance. My brother got a few heirlooms and some money but it was far less then what I got because he inherited a lot from our dad while I got pretty much nothing,” she wrote on the thread. 

Per OP, her brother didn’t have a problem with the inheritance until his marriage was fast approaching. 

“He is getting married soon and I was talking to his fiancée, who told me that my brother told her that our grandma wanted his future wife to get married wearing the jewelry she wore at her wedding. I have no idea why he told her this,” she recalled. 

OP was clearly taken aback by the new information. She reiterated that her brother and her grandmother were not close at all, and she knew that her grandmother “definitely did not” promise him her wedding jewelry.

“I told my SIL that I can’t give her the jewelry. She can borrow it for her wedding but she has to give it back because I plan on wearing it to my wedding too,” she added. 

However, her brother’s soon-to-be-wife went ballistic, saying that she didn't want to wear the same jewelry that her sister-in-law would wear at her wedding. OP’s brother also blasted her and revealed that his fiancée was crying because of her. She even recalled her brother telling her that “he deserved to have something from our grandma because I inherited a lot more than him.” 

OP stood firm, reiterating that she grew up with their grandparents and had a much closer relationship with them. OP’s brother “cussed” her out and even accused her of tricking their grandparents into leaving her most of their money. 

“This isn’t true. They raised me since I was a few months old and I went to a local university instead of my dream school so I would be able to stay home and care for them in their final years, so they obviously had a better relationship with me,” she went on to say. 

OP was still forgiving and generous as she let her SIL borrow the jewelry, but emphasized that it won’t be hers. OP’s stepmother even stepped in and called her “all sorts of nasty things for depriving my brother of something that my grandma promised to give him.”

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In the comment section of OP’s post, Redditors are in consensus – OP was definitely not in the wrong for refusing to give the jewelry. 

“Absolutely NTA, and at this point, don’t even let your brother’s fiancée borrow the jewelry because I highly doubt you’d get it back without having to get the police involved,” a Redditor posted. 

“NTA Keep your jewelry. Make sure it’s somewhere safe and hidden. Your brother has been influenced by his greedy fiancé. Don’t trust him,” someone pointed out. 

“NTA. Do not let her borrow it either you will never get it back and if his mom was so worried about you maybe she should have raised you instead of having you live with your grandparents,” one commented. 

Many Redditors also advised that OP should rethink her idea of lending the jewelry to her brother, especially because they insist on getting it in the first place. 

“NTA - Op, I’d really rethink your offer to lend the jewelry - a good rule of thumb is to not lend out anything with sentimental attachment for you - basically never lend something that can’t be easily replaced. Definitely never lend something so emotionally valuable to people who start out with lies like this, things aren’t adding up!” a user suggested. 

“NTA. In addition, don't loan out YOUR jewelry -- you may not get it back, and if you call the police, there's a good chance they'll lie about it and the relationship will be even worse,” another advised. 

“Do NOT lend her that jewelry. You'll have to fight to get it back, and they may damage it out of spite. Absolutely NTA, and don't let those entitled a**hats wear you down,” another user emphasized. 

Do you think OP was in the wrong for refusing to give away the heirloom jewelry of her grandparents? What would you have done differently if you were in OP’s shoes? Let us know, and pass this on to your family and friends!