AITA for refusing to move out of the house my late grandmother left me, even though my cousin is homeless now?
So, I (29F) recently inherited my grandmother’s house. We were very close, and she legally left it to me in her will. It’s a small two-bedroom cottage just outside the city, and I’ve been living there for about four months now.
Enter my cousin “Laura” (34F). Laura and I were never particularly close growing up. She’s always been the golden child of the extended family—cheer captain, valedictorian, the whole thing. Meanwhile, I was the “weird” kid who liked books and kept to myself. We tolerated each other at family events but weren’t friends.
Last week, Laura lost her job and her apartment, and she showed up at my door with two duffel bags, asking if she could stay “just for a few days” while she figured things out. I was caught off guard, but I said okay. She slept on the couch, and I tried to be a good host.
But she immediately started acting like she owned the place. She criticized how I decorated the house (“Grandma would hate this color”), rearranged furniture, threw out my soy milk and replaced it with “real” milk, and even invited a guy over to “Netflix and chill” while I was trying to work in the next room.
After five days, I told her she needed to leave. I said I was happy to help her find a shelter or support service, or call another relative, but she couldn’t stay here anymore. She flipped out. Said I was being “selfish” and that “Grandma would’ve wanted her to have the house anyway.” (Side note: Grandma specifically did not leave anything to Laura because Laura “always had everything.” That’s a direct quote from the will.)
Now my family is blowing up my phone. Apparently Laura is staying with our aunt, but she’s telling everyone I “kicked her out onto the street” and that I’m hoarding the house “like a goblin with a ring.” (Her actual words.)
Some relatives say I was right to draw boundaries, others say I should have let her stay longer because “she’s family.” I’m starting to wonder if I was too harsh.
AITA?