I’m a trans woman. My mom freaked out when I tried to express how I felt as a kid and always forced me to wear typical boy’s clothes and play with appropriately masculine toys. My Aunt D (her sister) was the complete opposite. Growing up, I spent at least one weekend a month at her house while Mom partied. She let me wear dresses and play with dolls and makeup. I had my own closet and toy box at her house filled with my “real” clothes and toys—things that would have been thrown away if they appeared at my mom’s house. She was incredibly supportive and, truthfully, was more mother to me than my actual mother.
Sadly, Aunt D passed away a few months ago after a brutal, but thankfully brief, battle with cancer. I was and still am heartbroken. Thankfully I have a loving partner and wonderful friends to help me through the grief. My family has been less supportive. Except for a few thousand dollars put into a trust for my half-sister, Aunt D left everything to me. She was a very hard worker and good with money, though I was still shocked by the amount. My mother and sister were livid when they found out, feeling that Aunt D should have provided more for my sister, and are now demanding that I split my inheritance with her. The thing is, my aunt tried very hard to develop a close loving relationship with my sister as she did with me, but my sister just didn’t care. She’s a lot like my mother—very narcissistic and only interested in people who can do things for her. She once claimed that spending too much time with Aunt D would turn her into a “freak like me.” I’m tired of being hounded by her and my mother, but I also feel like she shouldn’t profit from my aunt’s death when she was so dismissive of her while she was alive. What should I do?