After Rich Old Lady’s Death, Her Kids Rush to Lawyer and Learn They Get Nothing — Story of the Day

Three children who never cared to care for their elderly mother rush to her lawyer after her death, confident they would inherit her estate. But there's a surprise in store for them, which they find out only after the funeral.

Catherine Blaire and her husband Todd had spent their entire lives in the Texas countryside, working on the several hectares of property they owned and gradually growing their simple agricultural profits into a major business.

As a result, Catherine and her three children, Bridget, Samuel, and Paul, never missed out on anything, even after Todd passed away. However, when the children moved out of their house and into the city, things took a turn for the worst.

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At first, Catherine missed them terribly and wished they would stay back with her and help her with the business, but the kids had something else on their minds, which Catherine only learned when she was diagnosed with cancer and barely had three months to live...

"Hi, Samuel. I was wondering if you could come over to see your mom this weekend. She's in the hospital and really wants to meet you...in fact, all three of you," Catherine's secretary and helper, Melissa, called Samuel after Catherine's diagnosis, on her suggestion that her three children be by her side when she revealed her health condition. But Samuel's response broke poor Catherine's heart.

"Look, Melissa. I've got work to do, alright? And if she's already in the hospital, I assume the doctors are taking care of her. Why does mom want to create unnecessary drama? Anyway, it's not like I can treat her. I don't want to come, and don't call me again," he grumbled and hung up.

Catherine was right there, listening in on the whole thing. The way Samuel behaved shattered her. However, she didn't show it to Melissa.

"Oh dear," she giggled as she masked her tears. "You see, Melissa. I think my Sammy is busy with work. He's taking things seriously as a responsible man. I should be proud of him."

"Yes, ma'am. Don't worry, I'll check with Bridget and Paul. I'm sure they'll be able to make time for you," Melissa replied, forcing a smile. But deep down, she could see how hurt Catherine was by Samuel's words.

Fortunately, when she called Bridget next, she agreed to pay Catherine a visit. But when she dialed Paul, it was the same story again.

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"No, Melissa," he replied. "I won't be able to come. I'm traveling to Thailand with some friends. I'll see whether I have time after that."

"But, Paul—"

"Hey, hey, relax. Why don't you just pay someone to look after her? I understand she's sick, but what can I do? I can't be by her side for the rest of her life, so just tell her I'm busy, and I'll make time for her later. Goodbye!" he said and hung up.

"Ah well, ma'am…." Melissa looked at Catherine, dejected, formulating words to console her. But before that, the older woman spoke up.

"It's fine, Melissa. At the very least, my daughter is paying me a visit. I'm happy there's still someone who cares about me..."

But sadly, Bridget's visit was nothing like Catherine had expected. She arrived at the hospital with a bouquet and some fruits, hardly talked to her for 10 minutes, and then left, saying, "You look fine to me, mom. I don't think there was a need for such an urgent visit. But it's okay. Take care."

Catherine was reduced to tears, wondering how the times had changed. Her children, whom she had reared with such love, didn't bother to make time for her and instead became estranged from her.

In fact, even in Catherine's final days, when Melissa informed the children that their mother's health was rapidly deteriorating, citing the mental stress she'd been subjected to after they refused to see her at all, they didn't seem to care much, except for returning to her once or twice to demand money.

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For instance, when Paul returned from his vacation to Thailand, he took money from Catherine and told her it was for a new business he was launching. But what he actually did was buy a new car. Bridget and Samuel were not far behind, and they kept asking for money for various reasons.

Catherine was confident at this point that her avaricious children were just interested in the inheritance Todd had left behind. So she contacted her lawyer one morning and changed her will – which no one was supposed to know about until she died.

As a result, three months later, when her children rushed to the lawyer's office after her funeral to find out what their mother had left for them, they were met with dismay.

"What? Mom didn't leave us anything? What are you talking about, Mr. Smith?" Paul was astounded to learn that their mother had disinherited all three of them.

"I know, right," Bridget said, smirking. "Mom was ill. She must not have been in the right frame of mind. It's just not possible that she'd give it away to charity instead of to us!"

"Well, children," Mr. Smith cleared his throat. "I never mentioned she left everything to charity. In truth, it would be inaccurate to say she left you with nothing. She left you a message explaining who the new inheritors of her fortune are and why."

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"A message?" Samuel gave him a glare. "Do you think we're fooling around here, Mr. Smith? Just skip all this nonsense and tell us what she did to mess up the will."

Mr. Smith sighed and moved a piece of paper to the front of his table. "The answers to all of your questions can be found here. Now please excuse me since I have other folks to attend to."

Paul picked up the paper, walked out of the lawyer's office to read it, and his two other siblings followed him. They discovered it was a letter written by Catherine a few days before her death.

"Dear Samuel, Paul, and Bridget,

If you're reading this letter, then I suppose you're at my lawyer's office, frustrated you didn't receive anything from my estate. You shouldn't be surprised, children, because you got what you deserved.

Remember when I called and none of you bothered to come over except when you needed money? Or how you only required me for your luxury trips, new cars, and extravagant lifestyle? No, no, don't be embarrassed about that. You taught me how miserable people - even one's own children – can be...

"What the hell?" Bridget lost her cool. "What was wrong with her? Did she really think we would need her moral lectures after what she did?"

"Wait a minute; there's more," Paul replied and continued reading the letter.

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I just thought of teaching you a small life lesson before God calls me home. You know, I saw Todd last night in my dream. I told him how sad I was after all that happened. He laughed and said, 'Honey, you should just leave the wealth to our kids. You can't bring it with you after you die. Why worry about unnecessary things?'

But I told Todd that I had some people in mind who deserved all our wealth. And they are Melissa and our gardener, Robert, who are the joint heirs to my home and business. That poor 18-year-old gardener was like a son to me. He bought me medicines, made fresh tea for me every morning and evening, and spent time with me, telling me stories about his village and keeping me motivated even though I told him how little time I had.

And Melissa was no exception. She drove me to all of my doctor's appointments. She frequently slept by my bedside at night, watching over me and the business your father and I had worked so hard to build. But what did the three of you do? You were too preoccupied with your lavish lifestyles. So, best of luck with that from now on. I hope time has taught you a valuable lesson.

Your mother,

Catherine Blaire."

The three children exchanged glances, but they realized they couldn't do anything at this point. They were on their own and had to fend for themselves.

Robert and Melissa, on the other hand, who were afraid of losing their jobs after Catherine's death, were able to carry on Catherine and Todd's legacy — their agricultural business – and live happily for the rest of their lives.

What can we learn from this story?

• You can't avoid karma. Paul, Bridget, and Samuel got a brilliant reply for their greediness as they were disinherited.
• Older people need love and care, and we should not refrain from giving it to them. Catherine simply wanted to be with her children and spend time with them in her final days, but her children were pathetic and didn't care about her.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about an old lady who disinherited her son from her $1.2 million estate and left him only a broken vase with a note inside.

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