Reddit Stories - The MILLION-Dollar Legal VICTORY_ A Second Wife's Legacy of Trust and TRIUMPH_

Episode Date: August 10, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #milliondollar #legalvictory #secondwife #legacy #triumph  Summary: Dive into a gripping tale of a second wife's journey to secure a million-dollar legal victory, leaving behind a legacy of trust and triumph.  Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, milliondollar, legalvictory, secondwife, legacy, triumphBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. The second wife successfully settled a legal case worth a million dollars and established trust accounts for her children, including myself. After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, my biological mother began a romantic relationship with my father in order to benefit from his resources. The money My 17F stepmother Jane is a wonderful, wonderful woman. She and my father got married when I was four, and she's been a rock in my life and

ever since. My mother was always my primary caregiver, but up until that point her relationship with my father was acrimonious and I basically never saw Jane was the reason they developed a stable co-parenting relationship. She encouraged everyone having a good relationship with each other and was always there to support me and my mom when things got rough. Jane was always a really hard worker. When she met my dad, he was living out of a hotel and my mother was doing everything in her power to keep me away from him because she was petty and angry that their relationship didn't work out. Meanwhile, Jane had a great job, a nice house, helped my dad get back on his feet, negotiated a visitation schedule with my mom, who hated her for a long time, and made sure my dad sent

us money every week because neither one of them could afford an attorney to negotiate child support payments. Jane had no reason to do any of these things, but as I got older she made it clear that she loved me as much as she loved my half, brothers who were born a few. years later. I even have my own room in her house because at the time we lived with my grandparents, various boyfriends of my mom and Jane felt that I needed a more stable environment than that. She's like the opposite of the evil stepmom. When I was 15, Jane won a big lawsuit against an airline company and got awarded upwards of a million dollars. She used the money to build sizable trust funds for me and my brothers so that we would be taken care of later in life.

Despite having a lot more money she still wanted to live a fairly modest life, so she paid off the house she has and has been living there ever since with my dad. Sure she bought a new car and they went on a few nice vacations but she didn't blow all her money on stupid things, which I respected. About a year ago, things started getting really weird. Whenever I saw Jane she seemed to look sicker and sicker, but no one would tell me or my brothers why even though I know they knew. All we knew is that she was at the hospital a lot.

Around the same time, my mom has been coming around my dad a lot more and acting really strange, basically like she was trying to romance him. Whenever Jane was in the hospital my mother would insist on spending the night at their house and playing mom to my brothers, which was so weird to me because she never liked them or Jane. She'd be the perfect little housewife and my mom is not like that at all. It was super fake. of all, my dad started falling for it. I'm not stupid, I'm pretty sure they were sleeping together.

I tried to shield my brothers from it, but they're not dumb either. I tried talking to my dad too, but he insisted it wasn't like that. Then a few weeks ago, my mom started talking about all the places she'd like to visit, how she wanted a new car and was looking to invest. Which is weird because my mom has been a bartender her whole life and has lived paycheck to paycheck since before I was born. She was acting like she was about to get a lot of money, which started to make me really suspicious. Between Jane being sick and my mom acting All Nouveau Riech, I had a lot of questions. Finally, I decided to visit Jane in the hospital and ask her about my trust fund. I found out that if anything happened to her, that my dad would inherit all the money including

full control of the trust for me and my brothers. She asked me why I was so interested in the trust funds, so I told her what's going on with my parents and how my mom has been acting with my dad. I didn't want to, but after everything she did for me, she deserved the truth. It really hurt me to break her heart like that, especially once I found out that she was basically in hospice at this point because of irreversible kidney failure. She's only got a few more months. We both cried so much. Then, two days ago, everything came to a head. My mom stormed in furious and started arguing with my dad. Apparently Jane met with her lawyer and changed the trust so that my dad would get nothing and all of the trust would be controlled by my step-aunt. She demanded to know

how Jane found out about their relationship and I came out and told them that I told Jane everything. I told them that if they wanted to play stupid games they would win stupid prizes and that I wasn't going to let them screw Jane over after all the help she gave my family when she didn't have to. My mom slapped me and my dad just looked so defeated. Then my mom told my dad that she didn't really love him, that she was just pretending to so he would marry her and she could get all of the money. The worst part about it is that my brothers witnessed the whole thing and now on top of their mom dying they have to deal with a cheating dad and his vindictive ex.

Our whole family is in ruins and I feel like it's my fault even though I know it's not. Yesterday I visited Jane again and told her about the fallout. She apologized and said that she had to dissolve my trust fund to make sure my mother didn't get a hold of the money, but that is her oldest I will inherit the house slash property after she is gone and that's worth more than the other two trust funds combined. My father won't get anything because she's going to divorce him before she dies, and honestly I'm happy for her. She made me promise to take care of my brothers and told me that once I turn 18 this summer I can kick my dad out of the house if I want to. And I fully planned to do that BTW. I haven't talked to my dad since and I can't even look at my mom. I can't believe they would

conspire to do this to Jane after all this time. Just proof that they deserve each other and I'm embarrassed that they're my parents. Once I turn 18 I'm going to cut my dad out as much as I can and cut my mom out completely. I hope she rots. Meanwhile, I'm going to try and be at the hospital as much as I can until Jane passes away. Anyways, I just needed to vent. I'm really messed up about the whole thing and I feel super betrayed, although I can't even begin to imagine how Jane feels. I'm going to be so effed up when she dies. I can't even think about that right now.

But at least she's not surrounded by people who just want to bring her down. Thanks for reading. Edit. Some people are asking a lot of the same stuff so I'll just clarify here, my brothers. My plan is to use some of the estate money fight for guardianship for my twin brothers so that they can live in the house while I kick my dad out. If I can't get guardianship, then I will have to let my dad stay in the house. However, once I turn 18, I will technically be an adult so even if my dad leaves, I'm still legally able to be responsible for them.

The only thing I won't be able to do is stop him from taking them if he leaves. But they will be 18 in six years, so even if they do have to leave, they will always be able to come back whenever they want. In a perfect world my dad would just leave and let my brothers stay with me, which I'm sure my bio-mom would be very supportive of because right now she hates all of us and I doubt that will change anytime soon. The trust, from what I understand, my brothers will inherit one-third each of the estate and the remaining one-third will be used to keep the house running until they turn 18. After that it will be up to me if I want to keep the house or sell it. At that point my brothers will still have money left in the trust so they can branch out or do whatever they want.

want, otherwise I will not sell the house and just pass it on to them or keep it and maintain it myself and they can just stay with me as long as they need to. Edit to the edit, so I just spoke to Jane and she told me that the reason she dissolved the trust is because originally it was going to be split three X between us kids and my dad would inherit the house. She dissolved my third and switched it over to make it to take care of the house maintenance, and instead put the house in my name so my dad wouldn't get it. Plus by doing that at least financially I would be getting a much bigger share, the house is worth about 1.5x the amount of my brother's trusts, I just wouldn't be able to do anything with it until my brothers are 18, which I'm totally cool with.

Sorry if I don't have a better answer, but I'm just trying to translate what she told me. My parents, the big fight happened on Sunday and I haven't spoken to either of my parents since. I think they're both at my mom's place right now, but that's fine with us because we're all still mad at them so they can stay gone for all we care. I know technically that's not legal to just leave us alone, but I've been taking care of my brothers for over a year I can handle a few days while he gets his shit together. Screw both of them. Hope that clears some stuff up. Additional information from OOP on her parents, stepmom's health, trust funds, OOP. Why isn't Jane on dialysis? I don't remember the exact details, but Jane has a genetic condition where she gets

on her kidney. She already had a transplant a few years ago, but now she developed problems with her arteries or something in her legs so she doesn't qualify for dialysis. She could get another transplant but she doesn't want to because the last time was so traumatic, rejections, etc., so she decided to just let herself go on to maintenance medications to prolong her death until she gets her affairs in order. She has a few other health problems that make the typical treatments really dangerous and according to her she'd rather die surrounded by loved ones than on an operating table. Dissolving the trust fund, Jane told me she didn't technically have to do it, but she didn't trust my bio-parents not to do something shady and get a hold of the money before I turn 18.

Even if my aunt controlled the fund my dad would still be able to collect if something happened to Jane before I turn 18. Her lawyer suggested it's better safe than sorry and I agreed that it was the best option. I'm not an expert though I don't know the details. How my mom knew, like I said before I'm pretty sure Jane told my dad, who then told my mom and that's how the argument started. I can't think of any other way and I didn't really care enough to ask. Jane's thoughts on my mom, she didn't know my mom was doing all of that.

My mom has her own place and would only come over whenever Jane was in the hospital for a few days at a time. I've been living with my dad for a little over a year so he probably told Jane that my mom was there to spend time with me, if he told her at all. Besides, she didn't move in until a few months ago, which I guess is when they started hatching their plan. Jane never outright banned my mom from visiting so there really wasn't anything she could do. Hope that helps. Edit for the last part. The remainder of the money belonging to the estate that hasn't been put into trust for my brothers is going to be used to

maintain the house, utilities, taxes, etc. Until my brothers are 18 and then I can either choose to sell the house or keep it and maintain it myself if I'm able to. I plan to go to school in that time and get a better job with the goal of keeping the house, but if I can't then I have the option to sell it. Not that I will, but that's how it was explained to me. Oop on her stepmom and their relationship. Provides thoughts on her bio mom. Oop, honestly, it's because she's more of a real mom than my actual mom.

My bio mom is kind of ambiguous about my existence, but Jane was always extra involved, sending me to sports teams and paying for dance classes and just showing interest in my hobbies as I got older. Plus as the only girl I think we bonded on a level she can't with my brothers so she always made sure to let me know I was on equal terms with them. When I was younger we would watch movies and have girl time where it was just us one to one and those are some of my best memories with her. Jane is also really mature and someone I want to be like when I get older whereas it feels

like my mom is a teenager in an adult's body. She was constantly picking fights with my dad about dumb things and Jane was always there to smooth things over and keep my best interest at heart over her own feelings. I know my mom made Jane's life really difficult for a long time, but Jane never complained or said anything to me about it, whereas my mom constantly complained about Jane. As I got older, I just always felt more at peace when I was around Jane than when I was around my mom. If you want your stepkids to love you just be there for them and treat them like your own. Ignore whatever drama you have with your husband's ex and just love your kids. Trust me if you really care about them they will know. Update 1, hi guys, it's me again. A lot of

you asked me for an update on my situation with Jane and my family so I've come back with a few things that have happened since I initially posted. I will try to organize this in a way that addresses the major points of last time. Jane is still alive and doing surprisingly well considering the circumstances. She's always been a fighter and although her disease has been progressing, she's keeping a positive attitude with everything that is going on. She says she's grateful that she was able to see everyone's true colors before she passed so she could go into the next life knowing the truth.

We have become so unbelievably close in the past few months and it's getting harder and harder to know that she's getting close to the end. She doesn't ever talk about it though, and I know it's because she doesn't want to hurt me, but we both know the situation, so we're just making the best of our time. I'm also not being completely transparent about all of the drama at home, but TBAH I don't think she needs to hear all of that. We did end up having that surprise celebration of life that I planned. A lot more people showed up than I thought, but they all got an Airbnb near the hospital where

Jane is and we were able to take her out and spend some time at the lake near the facility. It was super low-key which I know Jane preferred and I was even able to get her old college friend to come after I found him on LinkedIn, L-O-L-L. We had food and there was music and we played games and it was overall a really great time, except Jane started crying at the end but she promised me it was just because she was grateful. My brothers are also doing okay, my aunt, Jane's sister, is currently paying for them to go to therapy and they'd become a lot more open about talking about the situation. They just turned 13, but a lot of the time it feels like I'm talking to actual adults, LOL. They've become really independent lately, in a good way, and aside from me driving

them places I don't really have to do much for them anymore. Their grades aren't super great, but they're not failing and considering the circumstances it could be a lot worse. They still hang out with friends and I'm keeping an eye out for like depression symptoms and stuff. The situation with my mom is as funny as it is embarrassing TBH. She spent a few weeks ignoring us and then she tried to crawl back into my life basically begging me to let her move in because her lease is about to expire and she has nowhere to go. That convo went about as well as you'd think and she ended up calling me an ungrateful bee and that I couldn't just ignore her because she's my mom.

I told her to get out of the house before I call the cops and to go back to my dad, who at that point was only coming home every few days to check on us and grab some clothes, after that she tried coming by a few times and when I wouldn't open the door she would lose her mind and start yelling through the neighborhood. After three instances of this I finally called the cops but because I'm 17 they told me there's a possibility that I would have to go home with her since technically I'm a minor and need to be with the custodial parent. I told them no way because I was the only one watching my brother's ATM. That led to a whole thing where after a few hours my dad basically showed up and I was allowed to stay there because there was

finally an adult present and I'd basically lived there for over a year. After that the cops firmly told my mom that if she keeps showing up and causing drama, my neighbors confirmed that she'd been there a few times screaming that they would arrest her for trespassing since technically it was Jane's house and not hers. She left and hasn't tried coming to the house anymore, but for a while she would call me constantly telling me I owed her and all kinds of stuff. She's now blocked on everything and anything she needs to say to me gets filtered through my dad. As for my dad?

Well, since he's basically required to be here for another two months until I turn 18, we've basically just avoided each other. It's not too bad, though, because I've been heavily relying on guilting him for everything to get my way. For example, he was going to contest a divorce, but I threatened to kick him out when I turn 18 if he does that so he just signed all the paperwork for a quickie divorce and is basically doing whatever Jane tells him to do. I don't openly disrespect him or anything.

He's still my dad, but I've made it clear that I have no intentions on doing anything he says ever again and he doesn't fight me on it. Most of the time he's just in his room and sometimes he'll go back to my moms but only for a day or two before they argue and she kicks him out again, L.O.L. I haven't decided whether or not I'll kick him out yet and we haven't talked about it either, so I'm kind of playing it by ear. As for me, I'm handling everything as good as I can. I found a new job where I make a little more money, so I've been focusing on saving as much as I can and just being there for my brothers. Between working in school and visiting Jane, I've been so busy I haven't really had time to really stop and think about everything, but I know it'll come. One of my friends has really stepped up and helped me manage everything and I'm super grateful to him for being there for me and my brothers, so we'll see how that goes.

Anyways, I wish I had something more exciting to share, but that's what's happened since my last post smile. Thanks again for all the support on my last post. Final Update December 14th, 2024. Hello everyone, it's me again, I've gotten quite a few messages in the past months asking for an update, so I'm going to post my final update here and hope that it's enough to answer the questions everyone has been asking. I'm sorry that it took so long to update, but a lot has been going on. As many of you may already assume, Jane passed away early fall of this year.

It was very traumatic and sudden, but the silver lining is that she exceeded every doctor's expectation for her life and when she did go, she was surrounded by family, including me, my brothers, and my dad. She was on palliative care and felt no pain except for a brief moment right at the end, and we are all very grateful for that. Towards the end, Jane was physically pretty much done but her mind was as sharp as ever. I took the advice of many of you here and recorded some voice notes for my brothers. I originally wanted to do video, but by the time we were able to do it, we both decided they didn't need to remember her wrapped in tubes and in a hospital gown. She also wrote many letters for her friends, family, and even for me to open when I reached

certain milestones. She gave me one to open right after she passed away, and while I won't share too many details I can say with absolute certainty that she is and forever will be who I consider my mother without question. It was very, very emotional for everyone and all Although it has been a few months I am still very heartbroken about her no longer being with us. She was a kind, gentle woman, and in my heart she is who I aspire to be. My brothers are obviously very hurt about our mom dying, but just like before they are taking it surprisingly well. They are still going to therapy both together and separately, and we have a lot of conversations

whenever they feel like talking. We've always been close, but I feel like we're closer now. Even though I work we hang out as often as we can, and I'm doing every single. everything I can to be the support that they need. They don't know it, but I definitely need them as much as they need me because they're the only ones I can really talk to about anything. Ironically now that our family glue is gone, we're pulling together stronger than before. My dad and I mended the fences, so to speak. We went to a few therapy sessions together where he took full responsibility for his behavior, and I've forgiven him as much as I can especially

since he eventually started doing everything he could to be there for Jane at the end, even though they still went through with the divorce. He's still living with us and things are a little tense, but they're much better than before. He's my dad and I love him, but he was also broken by Jane's condition and he wasn't able to cope in a healthy manner. Her dying really brought some light into his eyes, so to speak, and now he's really stepping up to be the man he was supposed to be. A lot of people commented saying too little too late, but again, he's my dad and for my own mental health I have chosen to forgive him. As far as I know my bio-mom pretty much vanished off the face of the earth when I turned 18. She tried a few times to convince me to let her live with us, but I wasn't having any of it.

Even my dad told her he's officially done and after we all blocked her on everything she stopped reaching out. She doesn't have any relatives who talked to her, so I don't have to worry about that. But I did hear from people who follow her on Facebook that she has a new boyfriend that she's living with. I don't want to stalk her or anything, I really don't care. She hasn't come to me with any kind of apology so T.B.H. she can get bent. It's a little hard for me to think that she'd just walk away the second I turned legal just because she didn't get any of Jane's money but oh well, true colors and all that. Guess 18 years was too long to pretend to care. I'm just so angry with her I don't want anything

to do with her anymore. Maybe that will change one day but I'm not holding my breath. As for me, I'm doing pretty okay, I decided to take a year before I start college to handle all of this bullshit and I'm still at my same job so I'm saving up money wherever I can. My friends have all been great supporters and I'm so grateful for everyone, especially you Reddit folks, who have been checking in on me and making sure I'm okay. I'm taking things one day at a time and that's been working great to keep my focused. My goal is to go to college next year and study journalism but I'm playing it by ear. I can always go back to school. but right now my family needs me and if that takes longer than a year then so be it thank you everyone this will be my last update and i very much appreciate all the love and support you've shown our family jane i know was very grateful for all of you too and all i can say is hold your

loved ones tight and be careful of anyone who seems too good to be true much love and blessings to you all