Losing a loved one while dealing with sensitive and difficult issues can be overwhelming and throw you off, often causing a lot of emotional turmoil. A man recently posted about a similar problem on Reddit: he wouldn’t give the family of his late partner the house they bought together. This caused a heated debate about grief, property rights, and moral duties.

What he wrote:

“I was with my boyfriend (30M, RIP) for 15 years. We were together until he died of bone cancer a few months ago, after we met in high school.

The place where I live is very traditional. When he told his parents he was gay when he was 17, they kicked him out. My family took him in, helped him finish high school, and did everything they could to help him.

He worked hard after high school and made a lot of money. He saved up enough money to buy a house 10 years ago, and he was the only one paying the mortgage. He was told he had cancer four years ago. He cut back on work hours to take care of his health, and I took over paying the mortgage.

He went on to explain:

“He fought hard, but cancer took his life in March.” His family suddenly showed up again after he died and said they were sorry they weren’t in his life. After some time, a month ago, they called to ask when I would be ready to hand over the keys to the house.

They asked to take the house, but I told them no because it is now in my name. While my boyfriend was sick with cancer, I bought the house from him a year later. It is now legally mine, and I had been paying the mortgage for a long time before that. They were mad and told me I was being unreasonable. I said it was theirs legally and that my boyfriend would have wanted them to have the house.

He also said:

“After giving it some thought, I told them, ‘You can have the house, but only if you “buy” it from me by paying off the mortgage over four years and taking on the rest of the debt.’ They told me I was selfish and said they didn’t have the money. They asked if they could take over the debt without paying me, but I said no. They got mad, and the argument got so bad that they said they would take me to court because they thought I was cheating on my boyfriend to get the house.

For the past month, they have been calling and texting me all the time, making threats. I know they can’t pay me back for all the money I put into the house, but I’m not sure what to do. Some friends have told me to give the house to them and move on with my life, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. I think I shouldn’t give them the house. To be honest, I don’t need it and I don’t want to give it to them either. “Am I wrong for not giving the house back?”

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