Mother-in-law refuses to pass down inheritance for fear of children turning on her

My wife and I, as well as my wife’s sister and her husband, have agreed not to accept any inheritance from my mother-in-law. We have repeatedly told her that she can leave everything to her son if she wants. However, she always insists on dividing her properties equally, but only after she passes away.

The issue is that she stubbornly holds on to a large plot of land while frequently reminding her children that they should not even dream of inheritance while she is still alive. Her reason is that she fears her children will squabble over early inheritance should she give them any, and no one will take care of her in the end.

But I have grown weary of hearing her constantly repeat this mantra. I even urged my wife to tell her mother to just give everything to charity if she is so insecure, and that no one else in the family, except her youngest son, is interested in her money.

Her daughters and children-in-law already treat her with the utmost respect and care, not because we are waiting for any inheritance. Hence, I do not want my mother-in-law to keep thinking that our filial piety stems from the promise of an inheritance. We simply want to be dutiful. Her constant reminders make us feel that our genuine care for her is unvalued.

Our sincere filial piety is becoming cheapened because of her fixation on inheritance. At this point, I would rather not receive anything at all to avoid being labeled as greedy.

In fact, I even feel insulted because every time we meet, she keeps bringing up stories she hears elsewhere about children from other families who receive their inheritance and then mistreat their parents.

I do not believe everyone is like that. How can we make her see sense?

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