Sometimes, we do things out of love for our parents that make no financial sense for us. He’s in that boat after spending years keeping the lights on in his dad’s business with his own hard-earned money.
But after his dad passed away and cut him right out of the will, he sold the loans on his dad’s business to force his stepbrothers to work.
This 48-year-old man has been tasked with keeping his dad’s business, well, from going under for years on end. The thing is, this never bothered him because it was only through his dad’s support that he was able to succeed in life and become a multi-millionaire.
His dad helped him graduate from college with no debt and then go on to launch his own company as soon as he was done with college.
Now, his stepmom has pretty much always hated him because she’s of the opinion that he could have gone above and beyond for her and her sons, yet didn’t.
He had already moved out of the house when his dad married her, so she was never a part of his life, and her kids are deadbeats.
“Both of my stepbrothers ended up working for my dad’s company. But they are useless. They spent most of their time ‘servicing’ clients. Taking clients to lunch and golfing with them. Stuff like that,” he explained.
“My dad needed help a few times, and rather than let him go under or go to the bank, I gave him loans at a very low interest rate. That way, if he couldn’t pay me back, I could write them off as bad debt and get a tax deduction.”
“I know now that he never mentioned the loans to her or her kids. And when I say kids, these are men in their thirties. My dad got sick two years ago, and my stepbrothers actually had to work.”
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Thankfully, the business was in such a stable place that his stepbrothers couldn’t mess anything up. It also helped immensely that his dad and his dad’s accountant were still in control of everything, despite his dad being unable to physically be in the office.
Half a year ago, his dad redid his will, leaving him nothing but tchotchkes, while his stepbrothers and stepmom inherited literally everything of value.
While he doesn’t exactly need more money, he thought this was insane. So, he sold the loans he had on his dad’s business to a direct competitor (and someone who used to be his dad’s old business partner before they had a falling out).
The loans were in the mid-seven figures, by the way, and he didn’t want to have to hold the debt anymore and risk getting taking advantage of by his stepbrothers.
“With the provision that I would personally make the payments until my dad passed away. So basically, they get the company when my dad died. I got my money back, so I was happy,” he added.
“When my dad passed, I got my stuff from his estate. Just photo albums and other things of that nature. My stepmother got the house and a retirement fund. And the three of them got the company. They came to me about the loans after they figured out how much my dad owed me.”
“They wanted to keep the same deal. Basically, one percent interest and really lax views on collecting payments. I told them that I had already divested myself of any involvement with my dad’s company and that they had to deal with a different creditor who would probably want to collect in full or renegotiate.”
His stepbrothers think he’s a jerk for gifting them a mountain of debt, since they were expecting to receive a golden goose. The business is still profitable even with the loans they have to pay back, and his stepbrothers can get a bank to give them a loan to pay everything off.
Additionally, it’s not like he stole everything. His stepmom has plenty of cash to last her the rest of her life, so long as she doesn’t spend it recklessly on her needs and those of her sons.
As for his stepbrothers, they have shares in his dad’s company, so if they want to work hard and figure it all out, they will easily be able to support themselves and generations to come.
The business itself is worth twice the amount of the loans, but his stepbrothers will have to do more than just sit around all day if they want to make a living.
He did support his dad out of love, even though it cost him money. But since being erased from the will, he no longer sees how the business is his burden to bear.
I really don’t blame him. He did his dad a kindness, and he doesn’t owe his stepbrothers anything. They’re adults, and this is their puzzle to solve now.
His stepbrothers are only angry that everything wasn’t handed to them on a silver platter, like they were evidently expecting.
Do you think that what he did was wrong?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
