The weight of betrayal, combined with the complexities of inheritance and responsibility, can be almost unbearable. This is the case for a woman who, after the loss of her husband, finds herself confronting a painful and unexpected dilemma. She explained what happened. My husband passed away nearly three years ago, leaving me to raise our 8-year-old child on my own. Since his death, I’ve uncovered truths about him that would have ended our marriage had he been alive. About six weeks ago, a process server came looking for him with a court order to submit DNA for a paternity test. I handed him a copy of the death certificate and sent him on his way.Not long after, a woman appeared at my door with a child,
claiming this was my late husband’s son. Is it? I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. The child resembles him, but he’s young enough that he must have been conceived just before my husband’s death.I informed her that he had passed away and directed her to his grave. Almost immediately, she began demanding ’her half’ of his estate. I couldn’t help but laugh and tell her that half of nothing was nothing, and she was welcome to it.Where I might be seen as the bad guy is that, while there was no estate, there were assets that bypassed probate. One of those was a rental property given to us by his parents, deeded to us as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. When he died, it became mine. I’ve since sold the property, and that money will go toward our
child’s college education. Legally, I’m covered—I’ve already consulted my attorney. While I do feel sympathy for this child, my priority is my own. People stood on her side.“You were not a jerk. And for what it’s worth, that’s not a terribly uncommon scam for some reason. If you still have the papers, I’d look into if they were even legitimate.”“I would have said, ‘He died with a ton of debt. Let me get your info, so I can transfer half of it to you.’ She would be out of there so fast!”“
You need to focus on your child and your finances. The property legally belongs to you, and there’s no proof your late husband was the father of the other child. Your priority is your own child’s future.”“Unless she has a way to prove paternity, you have ZERO obligations to her or her affair baby. Even if he is, the rental property was in your name, so it was not your husband’s to give away. Remember, she chose to wreck your house. I would not open the door for her.”“Don’t even give a second of thought about this again. Just tell yourself, ‘It was just a scam.’ And never talk to that person again, get a restraining order if it comes to it. Having said that, if you ever are served with papers (i.e. an actual lawsuit has been filed) then lawyer up immediately and vigorously defend yourself.”“It’s between your late hubby and his baby momma. You received sole possession of all assets upon his death, and you owe nothing to the baby momma. She should have informed him she was pregnant with his child while he was alive if she knew. Why did she wait 3 years to come forward?”Though the moral and ethical aspects of her decision may provoke debate, it highlights a universal truth: moving forward often requires making tough, deeply personal choices.
