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A woman wrote about protecting her father-in-law’s inheritance from her “narcissistic” mother-in-law (who is suffering from dementia), and her brother-in-law (who is a moocher). She wants her father-in-law to protect his grandchild’s inheritance by not having her son-in-law blow it. But is she entitled to it? The woman in question  hasn’t mentioned what her husband does, or what she does for a living, but leaving behind an inheritance is up to the father-in-law in question. 

The woman is worried about the inheritance being drained, in particular by the brother-in-law. 

Here are a few things the woman could do: 

Mary Trump, the niece of former US President Donald Trump, has been in the news recently due to her inheritance problems. Mary’s father, Fred Trump Jr., died in 1981, leaving behind a sizable estate. Fred Trump Jr. had three children, Mary, Fred III, and Elizabeth, and when he died, his estate was divided equally among his children.

However, Mary has accused her uncle, Donald, and her aunt, Maryanne Trump Barry, of fraudulently depriving her of her fair share of the inheritance. She has claimed that they conspired to undervalue her father’s assets in order to reduce her share of the estate. 

Mary filed a lawsuit in September 2020, seeking damages of $10 million, claiming that the fraud occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She alleges that her uncle and aunt took advantage of her during a time of grief and emotional distress following her father’s death.

There is definitely something going on here: before he died at the age of 71, Robert Trump lead an unsuccessful campaign to thwart Mary’s tell-all-book from being published. The Trump family even went so far as to file a lawsuit to prevent its publication. 

When the book was published in 2020 it was instantly a bestseller. Her book  includes details about the  family’s (alleged) shady business dealings, which include tax fraud. Her claims about her family’s focus on wealth and power at any cost has contributed to widespread problems across the United States today. Problems that are no doubt still lingering today. 

Mary’s case highlights the importance of having a fair and transparent process for distributing inheritances. It is essential to ensure that all heirs receive their fair share and that the process is not manipulated or influenced by those with a vested interest.

This is an interesting turn of events for the Trump family. You can read more about the ongoing inheritance battle below:  Mary Trump is suing the president.

Inheritances and the fights they can lead to in court can be devastating; celebrities have left this world, leaving their loved ones behind to bitterly fight with each other over the (financial) legacy they have left behind. Then there is the question of how these “winners” will manage that money. How do they spend it? Will they squander it, save it, or invest it? 

We’ve written a lot about greedy relatives, split families and broken relationships. Inheritances can obviously make or break families, and you learn who your true loved ones are. Not everyone is going to be lucky enough to inherit a fortune from a long-lost uncle, or even inherit much at all from their parents, for that matter. There are people who are lucky enough to inherit just enough to comfortably survive, pay off debts, etc. For some though, getting an inheritance (any inheritance) is almost like winning the lottery. How do you manage your inheritance if you have never had any money?  What happens when the dust has settled and you’ve GOT your money? What do you spend it on? Here’s some advice from someone who inherited money from his grandmother, and learned not to blow it all: 

How NOT to blow your inheritance!

What would happen if an estranged son wanted to make a claim to an estate? An estate includes an individual’s property and assets — including real estate, bank accounts, life insurance policies, stocks, and personal property such as automobiles and jewellery.

A woman worries about her sending off her late husband’s possessions to his estranged son, whom he had not seen in nearly 30 decades. The reasons as to why the son and the father were estranged from one another are unclear, but their relationship was the most tumultuous during the son’s teen years.  The son is now in his 40’s, living in a different state, with his own family to look after. The son, at this point, isn’t even aware of his father’s death or the Last Will and Testament that he created. The widow worries about notifying the son, in the event the son tries to make a claim to his late father’s estate. The late father also had icy relations with his late wife, as she apparently refused all contact before her ex-husband’s death (the father had his friends reach out to her before he suffered from health issues). The widow asks for advice. What should she do? You can read more about her situation and the advice given to her here: Can my stepson make a claim to my late husband’s estate?