From Dreams to Lawsuits: She Took Her Parents to Court for Stolen College Funds
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College debt is a huge topic in the media and political world currently, many students are graduating college with a mountain of debt and no prospective jobs to pay that debt back.
The lucky ones have their college paid for by their family, receive scholarships, or have an extended family member that had the foresight to put away money for them to attend college.
One young college student was fortunate enough to have an extended family member leave her money for higher education and has learned that her parents have taken a large portion of that money to fund something for one of her siblings, leaving her with only a small piece of what was left, she is now suing her parents for theft of the money. She refuses to drop the lawsuit unless her college is paid for.
The original poster (OP) starts by saying that her great-aunt had set up savings accounts for all of her female relatives because, in her culture, education for women is not valued, and she thought that was wrong and wanted to give her female relatives the option to further their education if they wanted to.
She says her great-aunt lived with her father in London, where she attended college and became a doctor. She married a British man, and they moved to America and had a great life. Her great-aunt funded the education of as many of her nieces and grandnieces as she could. Before her great-aunt passed away, she left money in an account for every female relative she could.
Stolen Funds
Unbeknownst to her, she said that her parents managed to access the accounts set up for her and her sister, and they used the money to pay for her brother’s wedding. She said her sister didn’t care because she married two years after graduating high school and did not intend to go to college.
However, when she graduated, she went to the bank to get the money to pay for college, and it was almost all gone. She said there was only $13,000 left in her account.
When she asked her parents about it, they said they needed the money, and that’s when she found out they used the money for her brother’s wedding. She said she was furious, took out student loans, and then moved out of her parent’s house. She now says that she is a great source of shame to her parents due to her behavior, and she does not care.
Lawsuit Filed
The woman goes on to say that she is now suing her parents for the money that was left to her, and her entire family is against her doing this. Her family thinks it is completely inappropriate for her to air their private family business publicly and that she is putting money before her family. She says her friends support her in going through with the lawsuit and are all on her side.
Her friends are all Americans and don’t fully understand her culture, but at this point, neither does she. Her brother recently called her and offered to pay for her college if she dropped the lawsuit.
She said she would agree to this, provided they have a legally binding contract. He responded that she was being unreasonable for not trusting him. She told her brother that he should not have accepted her money for his wedding, which caused embarrassment in their small local community.
OP says she is somewhat ashamed and embarrassed to be doing this, but she does not want to have student loan debt as she shouldn’t because of the money her great-aunt left her specifically for higher education.
The Internet Weighs In
People quickly supported the college student and let her know she was doing the right thing.
One user said, “NTA. Your parents didn’t borrow your money. They stole it. I hope you have all the documents to show that the money was yours. Your brother is also the AH for trying to get you to drop a lawsuit with what is most likely a lie.”
A second user said, “Agree, very easy NTA. Your parents stole money that was left for you. That’s the entirety of the situation.”
A third user said, “They stole your money and used it on a wedding. Your parents and brother are planning to leave you high and dry with student loan debt, and they expect you to be fine with that. Keep that lawsuit going; you deserve to be repaid every cent of it.”
A Redditor had this to say, “Wouldn’t be dirty laundry to air if they hadn’t **** on your education fund in the first place. You are under no obligation to be a compliant victim of theft and abuse. Those who pressure you are abusers as well.”
Another user said, “They put money ahead of the family when they stole OP’s education money for themselves and for a wedding. A wedding is not a NEED. It’s a want. NTA.”
Finally, a user added, “Yeah, pretty classic abuser technique to try to shame you into not telling other people about what they’ve done. They know how terrible and awful it makes them look, so they’re trying to shut her up by saying it’s really all her fault for “airing private family business.”
Redditors agreed that the family of the college student and believed the family deserved the lawsuit. What do you think? Should the woman continue with the lawsuit or drop it? More from Motherhood Life Balance.
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