AITA for disagreeing with the way my wife wants to spend her inheritance?

I've been married to Laura for six years. When she got pregnant with our daughter Luana, we agreed that she would stop working. Since then only I guarantee our livelihood. In early 2020 Laura wanted to stop being a SAHM and start her own business, but the pandemic thwarted her plans.

In June 2021 his father died and left as inheritance two houses that had a high sale price. We sell one and we're in the process of moving to the other. Laura decided to cancel her plans to go back to work to live with the money from the sale of the house, and that's fine. But I told her she should use some of the money to contribute our expenses

Laura didn't like it, because she thinks the money should be just hers and in the future it will be our daughter's. I think since she decided to give up work, her inheritance should be spent on our daughter, bills, market, gasoline... Anyway, the same things she'd normally spend if she worked. All expenses would be divided by 50/50.

Laura says that her parents' money should only be invested and eventually handed over to Luana and says I'm an asshole for wanting to boss on what she does with money that's not mine. I think I'm being reasonable, but she strongly disagrees with that.

AITA?

Source: Reddit

Comments from Harsh Truths of Love

What OP is asking Laura to do is more than contributing to the joint expenses. He’s asking her to change the nature of the inheritance and turn it into a marital asset. In many states, inheritances are considered separate property, meaning they belong solely to the person who received them—unless they decide to commingle it with marital assets. Commingling can happen in several ways:

• Deposit into a joint account: If Laura, for example, took her inheritance money and deposited it into a bank account she shares with her husband, this might be viewed as a form of commingling. Even if only some of the inheritance is deposited, that portion could lose its status as separate property.
• Used for joint expenses: If Laura used her inheritance to pay off a family mortgage, buy a car for the family, or invest in a home that both she and her husband live in, this can be considered commingling. The courts might then treat the inheritance (or the portion that was used) as marital property, which could be subject to division in the event of divorce.
• Purchasing shared assets: If Laura and her husband used the inheritance to buy a home or make significant joint investments, then that property or those investments could be considered marital property, again blurring the lines of what was originally inherited.

OP and his wife Laura make the decision together regarding who stays at home. She did her part and she takes good care of the family. OP needs to honor their original agreement. The inheritance is Laura’s.  Period. 

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