Dear Moneyist, I have what I hope is a simple question. My stepmom and father gave me $16,000 from their joint savings days before my dad passed away. She said it was a gift. Now that he has passed, she wants the money back. I paid $2,000 for the funeral. Also see:Read More →
Dear Moneyist, Several years after my mother’s death, my father remarried. My stepmother is an insecure, manipulative woman. Because my father seems happy to be with her, I keep those feelings to myself, other than confiding in my partner. My stepmother is eight years younger than my father, and weRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My father married a woman this summer and they were together for a year and a half before that. She made him happy and I really appreciate that. My father had a heart attack two weeks after the wedding and ultimately passed away. Also see: Can I leaveRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My father died suddenly in 2002. I am his only child. His third wife and he had been married for less than four years. She brought nothing of substance into the marriage other than some debts that he declined to pay off, which meant she had to continueRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My dad is 70 years old and has amassed a nest egg of more than $2 million. He dated my stepmother for 20-plus years before marrying her three years ago. My brother and I are our father’s only kids, and our stepmother has no children. My father hasRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My dad wrote a will before he passed away, but my stepmother wouldn’t let us know anything about it. I know my father wanted to provide for her while she was living. I was told he wouldn’t let her sell the house while she was alive. She justRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My dad is in his late 80s and in failing health. He shuts down any plan I or my siblings come up with to help with his health (like use the oxygen tank that his doctor prescribed) and I have accepted that he is probably not long forRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My children’s father passed away this past August. He had remarried not long before that and settled in Chapel Hill, N.C. He did have a will, but did not specify individual items to be given to his relatives. His new wife (AKA my children’s stepmother) is having aRead More →
