The young man sparked an online debate after revealing his plans to sell his mother’s furniture, which he claimed to be the only form of inheritance she left behind.
After he had planned to give away items for free, the 21-year-old realised that they “cost thousands”, and he could make around £10,000 if he was to sell.
But his dilemma arose when he had to break the news to his girlfriend’s mother, to whom he had agreed to give the contents of the house at no cost.
Posting the predicament on Reddit under the “Am I an a******” forum, the man acknowledged that he had “gone back on his word” by asking for payment.
However, he argued that he was in fact doing his mother-in-law a favour by offering the furniture for a reduced price of £4,000 instead of the full £10,000.
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In the forum post, the user named u/Direct-Bowler6650 wrote: “So my single mother died and as the only child I am being forced to go through the estate with the help of the family friend – a lawyer, and real estate agent who are both honest people.
“Long story short she made a ton of bad financial choices and I will inherit no money or assets after all is said and done. Although I’m now working through to get rid of the furniture and stuff around the house before I go to sell it.
“A few weeks ago I told my girlfriend’s mother that she could have it all for free since I never liked my mother and none of it is stuff I’d want to keep. Although upon further investigation I realised that it’s all designer high-end furniture that cost thousands and the shed is filled with even more worth of tools and etc.”
After realising the contents of the property cost much more, the man went back to the mother-in-law to “strike up a deal” to give her everything she wanted “for a bargain price”.
He asked for a total of around £4,000 for the entire house, shed and garage. However, this “really upset” his girlfriend’s mother, who then branded him “greedy” for trying to profit off of a close relative.
The man said: “Yes I am going back on my word but given the change in circumstances and my graduation from college this year I need some money and my girlfriend’s mother could easily buy all this brand new no problem, she is just frugal.
“I estimated that on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist, I could get closer to 10K but I don’t want the hassle of listing and moving tons of stuff.”
The dilemma sparked an online debate after the girlfriend reminded the man of “all her mother has done for him”, to which the Reddit poster agreed that “she is more of a mother than he ever had”.
He added: “I don’t know if it’s such a terrible thing to ask for very reasonable prices so I can make a little money while also providing my girlfriend’s mum with high-quality stuff that’s almost brand new.”
The grieving son garnered a lot of support from fellow forum users, many of which sympathised with his situation during a “terrible economy”.
One person commented: “When people have just lost a loved one (or not so loved even), they aren’t in the right state of mind. You truthfully didn’t know what you had. Yeah, it sucks that you went back on the freebies but really the girlfriend’s mum shouldn’t have counted those chickens before they hatched.”
Another added: “I think it is perfectly reasonable to say that you would give away things while you think they don’t cost a lot, but change your mind when you realize that you could make up to 10K on it.”
However, some people agreed with the man’s girlfriend, who branded him “greedy” for pricing the furniture. One Reddit user wrote: “You are the a****** for going back on your word, especially to someone who has been in your own words more of a mother than your own mother.”
A second person wrote: “I mean, understandable but still YTA. It’s like wanting to split winnings from a lottery ticket you gifted to someone.”
