{"id":18768,"date":"2025-07-29T23:41:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T23:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=18768"},"modified":"2025-07-29T23:41:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T23:41:58","slug":"can-i-keep-my-150k-inheritance-secret-from-my-kids-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=18768","title":{"rendered":"Can I Keep My $150K Inheritance Secret From My Kids&#8217; Dad?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload clicker_number\" style=\"position: absolute; height: 1px; width: 100%\" alt=\"ScoreCard Research\" data-count=\"104.245.38.58,104.245.38.58, 104.23.160.109\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"dear-SS Reader\"><span class=\"dear-SS Reader-dropcap \">Dear Penny,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I have inherited $150,000 from my father. What can I do with the money so that my children\u2019s father will not know about it ever? Also, what is the best thing to do to make a safe profit with the inherited money?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My children\u2019s father is totally an uncontrollable spender. I really believe it\u2019s a serious illness he\u2019s always had, along with many mental disorders. He is a 100% disabled veteran. What should I do right now?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">-K.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dear K.,<\/p>\n<p>Suppose your kids\u2019 father would somehow learn of your inheritance. It really wouldn\u2019t matter because he wouldn\u2019t be entitled to it. Even when two people are married, inheritances and gifts belong solely to the inheriting spouse. So the worst-case scenario is that your ex finds out about your $150,000 windfall, asks you for money and you refuse to give it to him. (The one exception here would be if you owed him child support, in which case the state\u2019s child support agency could go after you for the money.)<\/p>\n<p>Depending on how your father left you this money, your inheritance may be a matter of public record. If he left you money in his will, your children\u2019s father could find out about your inheritance if he requested probate court records for your father\u2019s estate. But if you received this money through a trust or you were the beneficiary of a retirement account or life insurance policy, this information would generally be confidential.<\/p>\n<div class=\"dear-SS Reader-form\">\n<div class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-container\">\n<div class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-image\">\n           <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazyload \" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thepennyhoarder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/12092321\/cropped-dana-headshot2-2018.jpg\" alt=\"Dear Penny\" srcset=\"\" data-attribute-no-pin=\"true\">\n         <\/div>\n<p class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-title\">Ask Dear Penny!<\/p>\n<p class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-copy\">Get practical money advice from Dana Miranda, the voice of Dear Penny and a Certified Educator in Personal Finance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-disclaimer\">DISCLAIMER: Questions will appear in The SS\u2019s \u201cDear Penny\u201d column. We are unable to answer every letter. We reserve the right to edit and publish your questions. But don\u2019t worry \u2014 your identity will remain anonymous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-container-success hidden\">\n<div class=\"dear-SS Reader-success-image\">\n           <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazyload \" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thepennyhoarder.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/12092321\/cropped-dana-headshot2-2018.jpg\" alt=\"Dear Penny\" srcset=\"\" data-attribute-no-pin=\"true\">\n         <\/div>\n<p class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-success-title\">Thank you for your question!<\/p>\n<div class=\"dear-SS Reader-form-success-copy\">\n<p> Your willingness to share your story might help others facing similar challenges. <\/p>\n<p> While we can\u2019t publish every question we receive, we appreciate you sharing your question with us. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>         <button class=\"ask-question\" id=\"ask-question\">Ask Another Question<\/button>\n       <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But let\u2019s be realistic. What are the odds that your kids\u2019 father would go snooping through court records to see if you got an inheritance? Loose lips seem like a far likelier source of this information.<\/p>\n<p>The best way to stop your ex from discovering your inheritance is to not talk about your inheritance. Not with him, obviously. Not with mutual friends and acquaintances. And not with your kids, assuming they don\u2019t already know.\u00a0 It\u2019s not fair to ask them to keep a secret from their father, especially if they\u2019re young.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now let\u2019s talk about what to do with that money. The first step I\u2019d take is to establish a six-month emergency fund for you and your kids. You always want money stashed away for an unexpected expense or loss of income, but that\u2019s especially important as fears of a recession grow. Keep that money in a high-yield savings account so you can access your cash when you need it while earning a bit on your principal. If you have debt other than a mortgage or a low-interest car loan, paying it off would also give you a good return since you\u2019d save money on interest.<\/p>\n<p>Once you have your six-month emergency fund, I\u2019d recommend simply putting it in an S&amp;P 500 index fund and letting the money grow. With an S&amp;P 500 index fund, you\u2019re investing across 500 companies representing roughly 80% of the U.S. stock market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some years (ahem, 2022), your investment will be down, but the S&amp;P 500 has a remarkable track record of delivering profits over long periods. In an average year, returns are around 10%. If you earned average returns, a $100,000 investment would grow to over $670,000 in about 20 years, even if you never contributed another cent.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s essential that you keep that money put so it can grow. Establishing your emergency fund provides a safeguard so you don\u2019t have to withdraw your money for short-term needs. But it\u2019s just as important that you commit to saying \u201cno\u201d to your children\u2019s father if he comes to you asking for money. I don\u2019t know the nature of your current relationship, but it\u2019s pretty clear that his destructive spending has affected you. Even if he would somehow discover your inheritance, make a firm commitment that you won\u2019t use a dime of this money to bail him out of any future messes.<\/p>\n<p>A $150,000 inheritance can buy you significant financial security, but it\u2019s not a winning Powerball ticket. It\u2019s not enough to splurge on a new home and luxury car or the kind of lifestyle upgrades that would draw attention. If you don\u2019t broadcast your inheritance, odds are good that you can keep it private.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><i>Robin Hartill is a certified financial planner and a senior writer at The SS. Send your tricky money questions to <\/i><i><span class=\"__cf_email__\" data-cfemail=\"edac9e86bd88838394ad9985889d8883839485828c9f89889fc38e8280\">[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- ACF Financial Disclaimer --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- End ACF Financial Disclaimer --><\/p>\n<p>        <!-- Newsletter Signup Form --><\/p>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup-wrapper-for-digioh\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12 newsletter-wrap flex-row\">\n<div class=\"container flex-container\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12 new-newsletter-form\">\n<p class=\"text-subheading\">Ready to stop worrying about money?<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-get-daily\">Get the SS Daily<\/p>\n<p class=\"email-privacy-policy-blurb-white\">\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>        <!-- End Newsletter Signup Form --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepennyhoarder.com\/investing\/keep-inheritance-secret-from-kids-dad\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Penny, I have inherited $150,000 from my father. What can I do with the money so that my children\u2019s father will not know about it ever? Also, what is the best thing to do to make a safe profit with the inherited money?\u00a0 My children\u2019s father is totally an uncontrollable spender. I really believe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[7551,1730,853,1240,2445],"class_list":{"0":"post-18768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing","8":"tag-150k","9":"tag-dad","10":"tag-inheritance","11":"tag-kids","12":"tag-secret"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}