My father’s wife claims the inheritance meant for me

By Thuy Linh December 22, 2024 | 03:38 pm PT

My father’s wife contends that since my father had an affair with my mother, which resulted in my birth, she must take the apartment my father intended for me to safeguard her own children’s interests.

A high-rise building. Illustration photo by Pexels

I am a 23-year-old woman. My father met my mother 25 years ago while he was working away from his family, and I was born. When I was two, he returned to his original family, leaving my mother to raise me alone. At 18, I moved to Hanoi for university, and upon discovering me, my father’s wife welcomed me and even allowed me to visit my father. She treated me well, inviting me to family events at my father’s request, and my half-siblings were accepting of me.

A decade ago, after selling their land, my paternal grandparents divided the proceeds among their children. My father used part of his share to buy an apartment from his in-laws to rent it out. He spent the remaining money on a house where he lived with his wife and their two children. During my second year at university, my father arranged for me to live in the rented apartment, telling me it would eventually be mine.

However, my father died unexpectedly in an accident two years ago. I continued visiting his family, considering them as my own. But recently, when I wanted to move my mother in with me, my father’s widow declared the apartment solely hers, asserting she had only allowed me to stay temporarily and that I had no claim to it, let alone the right to bring my mother there. She said if I wished to live with my mother, I would have to vacate and return the apartment to her.

It appears that when my paternal grandparents gifted the money, she persuaded my father to repurchase the apartment initially owned by her parents and subsequently had the ownership documents transferred exclusively to her name, excluding my father. Additionally, the house where my father lived with her and their children was transferred to their two children. My father, believing I had already received my share, trusted her completely. Consequently, I inherited nothing from my father, even though the properties were bought with money from my paternal grandparents.

I feel deeply betrayed and resentful towards my father’s wife, despite my previous gratitude towards her. Her actions reveal a calculated and longstanding resentment towards both my mother and me.

How can I reclaim the inheritance that is rightfully mine from my father?