Money, or the question of who cooks and who eats, is a common issue everywhere from the whole of society, down to relationships and family. Entitlement and greed can, unfortunately, overcome the trust that people should have amongst each other.
A woman turned to the internet for advice when her deadbeat family started trying to find ways to use her money to settle their own debts. She was sitting on a sizable sum after a settlement due to a work injury when her family, who had disowned her, started making demands. Readers shared their thoughts and tried to give the woman some advice.
Some people have to deal with family that feels like they are entitled to time, effort and money
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One woman vented to the internet that she was feeling pressured to cover her family's debt
Image credits: Ron Lach / pexels (not the actual photo)
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Money can make or break some relationships
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What a family expects from their offspring might differ from family to family and culture to culture. In some cases, it’s simply assumed that children will look after and provide for their parents. In other situations, the kids are practically on their own, for better or worse. After all, charging your offspring rent might be unthinkable to some, but a normal part of life for others. In some cases, families see their relatives and offspring as a supply of food, money and free party space.
However, there are a few important caveats in this story. First and foremost, “Haley” has already described how her family practically disowned her. Just as importantly, they already started making obscene demands of her money when she was just working as a teenager which, all things considered, must not have been that much income in the first place.
Unfortunately, more money, more problems, or so it seems to be for this young woman. Now that her extended family have learned about the settlement money, even they have entered the fray and seem to think she should give a solid fifth of it to them. Remember, this isn’t just some random lottery winning or that “Haley” is simply very wealthy, this is a court-ordered settlement that resulted from literal bodily harm on a work site.
People who think they owe you something are best avoided
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As “Haley” later shares, she is interested in seeking some sort of restraining order, as her family has proven to be entirely unpredictable and possibly violent. Once they know that she is in possession of this money, who knows what they might do? The fact that the police already had to be involved is enough of an issue. Even in other, similar cases, the authorities did not have to be called in, so “Haley” needs to be careful.
Many commenters suggested that “Haley” take some precautions anyway. Unfortunately, money can make people do absurd things, even to the people they should be close with. Even in less dire situations, sometimes people can be incredibly demanding and entitled to things that they don’t necessarily deserve.
Even if “Haley” was willing to cover the sum her extended family is rudely demanding, there is no chance it stops there. Once they get a taste, they will be demanding more and more. If “Haley” doesn’t create some legal protections for herself, she might be parted with this money a lot faster than she would want. This wouldn’t be the first or last time a family decides that one member's windfall needs to be split among the rest of them.
Most people thought the woman's family was out of line
Later, she shared a small update
