Is He Wrong for Keeping His Late Brother’s Life Insurance? People Shared Their Thoughts.

What are you supposed to do if a family member passes away and you have the option of keeping their life insurance?

Well, I guess you’d have to read the fine print on something like that, huh?

Because every situation like this is drastically different.

And this man wants to know if he’s an a**hole for keeping his late brother’s insurance.

Read his story below and YOU be the judge.

AITA for keeping my brother’s life insurance?

“I, 40M, lost my brother, 42M “Jay” in a car accident a few months ago. Growing up, he was the golden child.

He got a full ride to a prestigious college while I had to pay my own way and eventually drop out. He went on to grad school, but I got married and settled down with my wife, 42F, “Brittany” early on. We have had financial struggles which caused us to not be able to start a family. We live paycheck to paycheck in a one bedroom apartment.

Jay always made good money, but wasn’t lucky in love. He was very picky and while he had some longer 1-2 year relationships, he was looking for perfection before getting married. He finally married his wife, 40F, Mary, in 2019. She also made good money, like Jay.

She also had 2 children from a previous relationship, now 18 and 19. One is in college and the other will be starting next year. She and Jay also had twin girls about a year ago. Mary and Jay both worked, and have a nanny they share with a neighbor for their girls.

When they got pregnant, she sold her house where they were living and he sold his condo that he had been renting out and they bought a larger family home together. All this to say money is not a problem for them.

Like I said, Jay passed away recently in a car accident and Mary found out that I was the beneficiary of his 401(k) and life insurance policy through his employer. The life insurance is 150k but the 401k is much more substantial. He set it up that way years ago before Mary was in the picture and never changed it.

Mary begged me to give her a portion of the money but I said no. She inherited his part of their house, and their joint savings account which is about 50k. She said that she paid for his funeral, and to make it work on her income alone, she will have to sell the house, give up the nanny, put the girls in daycare, and won’t be able to help her older kids with college the way they planned.

I told her it’s not my fault. If he wanted to change the beneficiary, he should have done that. But he didn’t so now the money is mine. My wife and I plan to use the money to buy a home and finally start a family. She says her husbands money should go to his children, but she doesn’t see that me using the money to have my own children is more important.

Our parents think I’m an a hole because the money should go to his kids. I offered to take 50k and put it in trust for the girls education. But they said Mary needs the money now.

They said the life insurance would pay off their mortgage and the boys college and put money away for the girls future, and her income would cover the rest so they wouldn’t have to move. But what about my family?”