A couple of months ago my three siblings and I were informed that our father's 90+ year old sister had passed away. I'm not especially sentimental about that for a few reasons: She made it to her 90s, which is a good long life; I wasn't close to her (we lived a few hundred miles away so visits were few and far between); and in recent years she had developed dementia. Indeed, when she attended my father's funeral a couple of years ago, she admitted to me that she didn't really know anyone there, or where she was.
Anyway, my dad was listed in her will for a small (4%) portion with the stipulation that should he pass before her, his inheritance would pass to his 4 children. And so it was: My brother, two sisters and I all got some paperwork from the estate lawyer. I filled out my info and did a quick calculation of the estate and figured we would each get maybe $700. I seriously doubt that my aunt had us nieces/nephews in mind for her estate. In fact, her daughter explained that by the time my dad died, her dementia prevented the family from changing the will.
So yesterday, the lawyer called to explain that I would be receiving a check for approximately $1,000 but please do not cash it: Someone had improperly processed the estate but he did not learn of it until the checks had been put in the mail, so he has already stopped payment on it so please destroy it when it arrives. I confirmed that I am not a claimant at all, thanked him for the call and went on with my day.
When I got home and told the wife, we both broke out laughing about the whole thing. I mean, it wasn't going to change ANYTHING in our lives. And had I gotten the money, it wouldn't have felt right anyway: We were in the will by circumstance; almost by mistake.
Sadly, if I know my one sister, she likely already spent her portion in anticipation of the check, or at least earmarked it and was counting on it. [Sigh.]
I wish I could help her see the light. She insists on subsidizing her three kids: paying their rent, buying their cars, paying utilities. One is flunking college with a degree in pot smoking; one dropped out but is now back (on a 10-year plan) while working at a mattress store after getting fired from his career-related job; and one successfully graduated. Her first job out of college was cleaning dog cages for an animal shelter but then moved up to an administrative filing position with benefits, and got fired for being too slow. Of course the kids all feel like victims because they aren't walking around with fistfuls of cash in their pockets.
