Part 1Heir Apparent

I was scrolling through Reddit when a post from a legal advice forum caught my eye. It was from my cousin, Ashley, who lives with us.

[How do I prevent a manipulative cousin from inheriting my parents' money?]

I was confused. Her family lives in a double-wide trailer in Ohio. Why would she think I’d want a piece of that?

The comments were what you’d expect: reassuring her that a cousin has no legal claim, that she was worrying over nothing.

But then she replied, a little too eagerly:

[Are you sure? I mean, we're first cousins, practically sisters. That’s not a total stranger, legally speaking. Nothing’s ever 100%, right?]

And just like that, I understood.

The person trying to inherit someone else's money… was her.

* * *

Reading the full post from my cousin’s burner account was a gut punch.

[I’m an only child (24F). My dad is in international real estate, and my mom is a partner at her firm. We’re in the nine-figure club, so my inheritance is more than enough for several lifetimes.]

[The problem is my cousin (23F). She’s lived with us for years. She’s smarter than me, more successful… basically the daughter every parent dreams of. My mom adores her, honestly more than she seems to adore me.]

[How do I stop this cousin, who is a huge threat to me, from getting her hands on my family's estate?]

My head was spinning. The family background she was describing was obviously mine. And the "smarter, more successful, more loved" cousin she was pretending to be… was me. She was posting as me to get advice on how she could screw me over.

The comment section was a mix of legal advice and common sense:

> [OP, you’re probably young. A cousin has zero inheritance rights unless they are specifically named in a will. Relax.]

> [Your first priority should be getting her out of your house. She's freeloading on your family's resources. The inheritance isn't a real issue.]

But Ashley’s replies were frantic:

> [Are you sure? I mean, we’re first cousins, practically sisters. That’s not a total stranger, legally speaking. Nothing’s ever 100%, right?]

The commenters were getting annoyed:

> [Are you trolling or just legally illiterate? Your parents’ assets have nothing to do with your cousin. This is textbook paranoia.]

> [Yeah, the only way is if your parents write her into the will. The chances of that are basically zero.]

Ashley kept pushing:

> [A will is unlikely. My mom might, but my dad never would. There’s no blood relation. Are there any other ways? Loopholes?]

Then, someone posted the comment that changed everything:

> [Theoretically, it's not impossible. In extreme cases, there's a concept called 'heir by proxy' or per stirpes distribution…]

Ashley replied instantly: [OMG tell me more! I’m DMing you, please accept. This is urgent.]

The thread quickly turned on her:

> [Wait a second… it feels like you're desperately trying to find a way for your cousin to inherit the money.]

> [LOL, busted. You’re the cousin, aren’t you?]