Stay-At-Home Mom Receives Inheritance But Husband Making $400K/Year Takes Control And Hands Her Only $1,000
An inheritance raises questions about autonomy in marriage.
OP has been married for 15 years and, from the outside, her life looks financially comfortable.
Her husband earns around $400,000 a year and has always handled the family’s money. She stays home with their six-year-old and depends entirely on him financially.
But comfort doesn’t always mean freedom.
After OP’s father passed away, her mother began giving her inheritance money in yearly chunks. About $25,000 every Christmas for six years. Each time, her husband took the money and invested it.
OP was allowed to keep about $1,000 for herself, which she had to stretch as long as possible because she doesn’t receive regular spending money or an allowance.
That $1,000 wasn’t extra. It was all she had.
Recently, another piece of her father’s estate was sold, and OP received $50,000. When her husband found out, he told her to hand it over so he could invest it as well. His proposal was that she could receive the monthly dividends as an allowance, roughly $500 a month.
To him, this sounded reasonable. To OP, it sounded familiar.
She worries that once the money is invested, she’ll lose control entirely. She fears the dividends will eventually be redirected back into investments, leaving her with nothing again. Her husband has also shared plans to retire in a few years and live off investment income, at which point he expects OP to get a job.
OP wants something simple. To keep this inheritance in a savings account in her own name. To have access to her own money without asking permission. To feel secure.
Instead, she feels like this money may be her last chance at independence.
Scroll through the screenshots below to see how control, inheritance, and marriage collide.
Let’s dig into the details
Reddit.comA bit of backstory
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We gathered some interesting comments from the Reddit community
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“I strongly suggest you educate yourself and understand exactly where and how he's "investing" YOUR money.”
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“You need to stop giving him any control over your income. Deposit it in a personal account and don't tell him anything about it.”
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“Call your mom and tell her your ready and need help.”
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“Decisions are joint. You need financial independence and money to function off of. This is abuse.”
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“It’s not like he’s trying to set you up for early retirement also, he’s taking the money and investing it for himself.”
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“Ask your mom to deposit any future gifts into said account.”
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“The stock market is too volatile and it’s possible your husband has lost a lot of money already.”
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OP has spent years watching her inheritance pass through her hands without real access or choice. Her husband frames his approach as smart investing, while OP experiences it as control that leaves her vulnerable.
Wanting direct access to her own inheritance doesn’t mean rejecting the marriage, it means wanting a safety net. Financial partnership requires trust on both sides, not fear of being left with nothing.
Do you think OP is wrong for wanting her own account, or is this a necessary boundary? Share your thoughts in the comments.
