My boyfriend (30M, RIP) and I (33M) were together for 15 years. We met in high school and stayed together until just a few months ago, when he passed away from bone cancer. We live in a very traditional country. When he came out as gay at 17, his parents kicked him out. My family took him in, helped him finish school, and supported him however they could.
After high school, he worked hard and built a solid life for himself. He managed to buy a house 10 years ago and was paying the mortgage on his own. Four years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer. As his health declined, he reduced his working hours, and I took over the mortgage payments.It was a long, painful battle, but cancer took him in March. After his death, his parents — who had cut him off years ago — suddenly showed up, full of regret.
About a month ago, they contacted me asking when I planned to hand over the keys to the house.I told them they wouldn’t be getting the house. I had legally bought it from my boyfriend a year after his diagnosis, so it’s in my name. I’d been paying the mortgage long before that, and everything was above board. Still, they were angry. They claimed I was being unreasonable, that the house should belong to them, and that their son would have wanted it that way.
At first, they thought his cancer diagnosis was just an excuse to get them back into his life. When he got worse, they finally believed it. But even then, they barely visited. I had to beg them to see him, and they only came once. At his funeral, they stayed a couple of hours and left, saying it was too painful to see their son being buried.