Comments on: Lost a Grandmother, Gained an Inheritance

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:45:56 +0000

Thanks Tom, appreciate you stopping by :)

By: tom

tom — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:29:48 +0000

My condolences. It’s always difficult to lose a loved one.

Grandma sounds like a very generous and wonderful lady. Good call on taking some time to think about what you want and what she’d want you to do with the inheritance.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:11:18 +0000

Thanks Ryan! I think I’d get along with your grandmother a lot too :) I LOVE people who share their opinions and aren’t afraid to spark a little debate! (as long as they’re respectful, of course). One of my grandmothers was kinda like that too – she once told the priest that married my wife and I – AT the reception, mind you – that she didn’t believe in God because of all the sadness that surrounded her. The priest was super friendly and understanding, and debated back with her by asking tons of questions, and overall it was an incredibly interesting convo to listen to. I’m sure some people thought they were fighting a bit, but they both were trying to better understand each other, while at the same time proving their point ;)

I’m glad you got to have all those great discussions with yours! Thanks for telling us about them – was a pleasure to read.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:38:14 +0000

It’s wonderful to read about your love for your grandparents and you’re desire to make them proud. Grandparents are very special. All my grandparents either directly participated in, or were affected by WWII and the depression. The fact that they were so appreciative for life and family and reflected this in their daily actions was inspiring to me. I gave a few words at my grandfather’s funeral. He was a tail-gunner in WWII and faced death many times over as a young man in the war. My grandmother was just so giving and kind and hilarious. She made me laugh all the time. What I miss most about my grandmother was the family banter I had with her all the time. See, she wasn’t your typical grandmother- she generally didn’t cook, she told people what she thought, she argued with people all the time and she was always down to Eartg. My grandmother and me would have genuine arguments over all sorts of wordly affairs and that’s why I loved her so much. People would see me and my grandmother arguing and be surprised by it, but we both had the same independent spirit abandon were very opioniated. Ah, I miss that. I loved her so much that I felt free to have long discussions disagreeing on various topics.

My WWII grandfather was abusive to my grandmother and my dad. He raised his kids and treated his wife the same way he was treated and saw his dad treat his mom. So in that regard I still have some conflicts of feelings about him. He faced down death and was severely impoverished growing up in the depression so I can’t imagine what he felt or what he went through. My grandparents didn’t really leave me anything. It all went to their kids (my dad, aunts and uncles) and my dad spent it all on remodeling his house and didn’t help me at all with school or grad school. I joined the Army to pay for those things. I’m not bitter about it as I now have a great career in the Army as an officer but that money would’ve really helped me with some student loans I had to take out for law school. Oh well. Just be appreciative for the money and thank your grandparents in your prayers. Many of us didn’t have the luxury I inheriting anything and had to take care of ourselves throughout life. I you stay grateful and remember them you’ll do what’s best.

Good luck!

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:11:07 +0000

Thanks Kay Lynn – means a lot coming from you. Hoping to see you at one of the next conferences again! :)

By: Kay Lynn

Kay Lynn — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:54:33 +0000

J., sorry to hear about your loss. I only hope my grandson gives me such a great tribute when I’m gone.

I’m glad you’re taking the time to think about the best use of the inheritance versus a quick reaction.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:53:43 +0000

Awww she sounds like such a wonderful woman!! That’s really touching, Ruby, thanks so much for sharing her story with us – genuinely warms my heart :) We are blessed to have known our elder family members for however long we had! Nothing better than that in life.

By: Ruby

Ruby — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:11:50 +0000

What an emotional ride you just took us all on, and for good reason. I’m a grandparent now, and can’t imagine life without the input of my known-for-such-a-short-time Grandma.
She worked well into her 70’s, walking to the bus stop everyday. Her fridge was mostly empty but she bought cookies just for us. Her simplicity and stamina were part of her being 100% German, but she never told us about that part of her, I guess, because of the war and the risk of being scorned for her nationality. The only grandparent I had, she gave love not with hugs and kisses, but by being there. How I wish I could tell her, since I never did back then, how much her checking up on me really meant. Too bad we know our grandparents when we’re young and in the teens, when our minds are messed up. She left no money, but what she had–a few pieces of furniture and curios–I treasure, because those were all of her treasure. Very poor, she was. But she enriched my life greatly.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:18:15 +0000

Thanks Natalie — My mom actually did everything through a lawyer. She was the head of the Trust or whatever, and made sure none of us siblings have to pay any taxes on it whatsoever which is great. That was actually my first question to her when I heard we were getting something ;) Money def. complicates things sometimes, so we’re lucky everything has been smooth sailing so far. Thanks for the well wishes, have a great weekend okay?

By: Natalie @ Mango

Natalie @ Mango — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:23:02 +0000

J. Money, so sorry about your grandma. Losing someone is always hard, and often times gaining an inheritance only complicates things! I’m glad to see that that hasn’t been the case with you, but at Mango Money we recently did a post on inheritance, and the TAX that comes with it. I was shocked at some of the information we found. Not only have you just lost someone dear to you, but if that person happened to leave you a large inheritance, you’re then stuck paying taxes on it! Check out the post if you’re interested: http://www.mangomoney.com/blog/money/death-and-taxes
What did you have to deal with on the legal end of things here, J. Money?