This is how life works, that a person, alas, is mortal and, what is the saddest of all, is suddenly mortal. And the passing of loved ones always becomes a severe blow for all relatives - both in moral and financial terms. After all, organizing a funeral is almost always a big expense.
The author of the story that we will tell you today, the user u/Icy-Sun6781, recently lost her husband, and in the process of arranging his funeral, she also managed to quarrel with her mother-in-law literally out of the blue, receiving a lot of really undeserved accusations from the MIL. However, let's take everything just in order.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post recently lost her husband to whom she had been married for six years
Image credits: Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels (not the actual photo)
It was a severe blow for the woman, and she was incredibly thankful to her MIL for volunteering to cover all the funeral expenses
Image credits: Icy-Sun6781
Image credits: Kaboompics.com / Pexels (not the actual photo)
After the funeral, the widow found out that her husband had a small life insurance fund and took that money
Image credits: Icy-Sun6781
Image credits: rottonara / Pixabay (not the actual photo)
However, the mother-in-law was livid about this decision and demanded the author pay her back
Image credits: Icy-Sun6781
The author got some offensive accusations of being a gold digger and was in two minds about what to do
So, the Original Poster (OP) tells us that her husband, to whom she had been married for six years, suddenly passed away several months ago. This was damn hard for our heroine - after all, her entire familiar world collapsed overnight. In addition, it was difficult from a financial point of view, but fortunately, her MIL offered to pay for the funeral.
The author was very grateful to her mother-in-law - especially since it was also very difficult for the elderly lady. But a little time passed, and it turned out that her husband had a small life insurance policy through her job. So as a result, our heroine received this money, which, according to her own words, really helped her in arranging her life.
The OP claims that she completely forgot about the insurance compensation during the funeral - but her mother-in-law, having learned about this, was absolutely outraged and demanded that she return the money she had spent on paying for the funeral. Moreover, the author was accused of allegedly "using" her husband to improve her financial situation.
As a result, the original poster found herself in deep thought - on the one hand, she understands perfectly well that her mother-in-law is also having a hard time coping with the loss of her son. On the other hand, the woman believes that this money will really help her start her life anew, and doesn't want to share it with her MIL. So the author decided to ask netizens for advice on how to act correctly in this situation.
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
In fact, in this case, there is no direct established procedure for paying for funeral expenses, and each family decides on this issue on their own. Funeralocity claims that no one is obligated to pay for a funeral, and this is rather the result of each person's voluntary decision. Thus, the author's mother-in-law's decision is commendable, but not at all necessary.
"No one is legally obligated to pay for funeral expenses unless they sign an agreement. In most cases, the family will work together to create a financial plan for the funeral expenses," this dedicated post on the Joseph A. Lucchese funeral home website also claims. However, if the author did receive this money after the funeral, it would probably be a good gesture to reimburse her MIL for at least part of her expenses.
People's opinions in the comments under the original post were also very divided. Some folks believe that the mother-in-law really crossed the line with her wrathful accusations, but most respondents are sure that the author should compensate the MIL for some of the funeral expenses. After all, as some commenters point out, life insurance is largely designed for precisely such cases.
After reading the comments, by the way, our heroine sincerely agreed that she should share the money with her mother-in-law and said that she would most likely offer to reimburse her for half of the funeral expenses. Let's hope that this will resolve the conflict. And what do you, our dear readers, think about the behavior of the women in this story? Please feel free to express your thoughts in the comments.
People in the comments were very divided, but most of them urged the author to pay the MIL back at least part of her expenses
