After decades away, my in-laws' siblings return to fight over inheritance of the family home

My mother-in-law took care of her parents-in-law (my husband’s grandparents) for over 30 years. She looked after them in their old age and later handled their funerals and memorials. Even during hard times, she never stopped caring for her in-laws.

My father-in-law is the same, always looking after his family and siblings since he feels responsible as the eldest son. He stays in his hometown and takes care of family ceremonies for years without asking for anything in return.

But now that his parents have passed away, his siblings who left home decades ago suddenly return and say the house is a shared family property and no one can renovate or change anything.

Even though it stands on their parents’ land, that house was built by my parents-in-law 30 years ago.

Of course, everyone has the right to miss their parents and visit their home even if they live far away.

But that does not mean they can just drop by once a year and claim they have just as much of a stake in the house as the one who lives there and takes care of it. How is that reasonable?

What is more upsetting is how people always use the term "land left by the parents" in these disputes. But who has been taking care of that land? Who built the house standing on it?

There are things you can not measure by legal documents, such as time, effort, and love. These are often forgotten when people start fighting over inheritance.

In my opinion, inheritance and succession are meaningful concepts, but only when they are handled with fairness and respect. A family that fights over land, especially when those who stayed are treated unfairly by those who left, will eventually fall apart.

*The opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.