Dying Rancher Riles Up Internet with Divisive Will

The story, posted to an anonymous forum, featured the terminally ill cowboy and his many offspring desperate to know the contents of his will.

While some compared the rancher's dilemma to the show "Yellowstone" there was very little about the tale that crossed over with the hit series -- other than plenty of family drama.

Read on to see how Redditors reacted to the rancher and his twisted yarn.

The cowboy began by giving some information on himself and his recent health issues.

"I (58m) was recently diagnosed with a terminal condition. Won’t get into details, but it was the classical 'went in with a paper cut, got out with AIDSCancer2000' situation. I’ve got roughly a year and a half left."

"Over time, I’ve made a bunch of unwise decisions," he admitted. "I have multiple children with different women. I have three sons: Lance (43m) who has two daughters, Mark (22m) and Tony (15m). And four daughters: Cammy (38f) who has four children, Linda (30f), Ronny (28f) and Kathie (24f)."

"Not going to lie here, I’ll just say that I was only involved in raising Ronny and Kathie," the rancher wrote. "Their mom died when they were little and I couldn’t refuse to take them in. Ronny is starting her career in law and Kathie recently got her degree in agriculture. 9 years ago I also took in Mark, who was kicked out by his shitty stepdad. Mark decided against pursuing higher education."

"I own a ranch. It’s not a little one, though, but we’re managing just fine with the help of hired staff. We have about 500 heads of cattle, not counting the horses. The ranch has been in my family for generations. I know for certain that the only children who would be interested in preserving the ranch are Kathie and Mark. Maybe it’s just my delusion[s of] grandeur, but I’m very passionate about passing the ranch down to my children, so they’ll be able to continue the family tradition."

He then went on to predict the fallout from his decision.

"Knowing my children and knowing that they probably inherited my 'amazing' personality, I can say for sure that the second I draw my last breath, there will be an inheritance war vicious enough to make Middle East and Eastern Europe seem like a recess fight in kindergarten. It will be nasty, painful and disgusting."

"I wrote a will. As per my will, the ranch will go to Kathie and Mark 50:50. Including all the machines, trucks, other equipment, financial assets. Ronny, the executor of the will, is getting my 1970s Lincoln Continental. She’s the one who’s driving this car for the last 5 years and she’s the one paying for maintenance, insurance, everything. The other children get $10k each and Tony gets my car, a 2010s Chevy Suburban, purely because it’s a safe car and he’s getting his license this year. The grandkids also get $5k each. It’s not much, but I don’t own much either."

Then came the drama among his offspring before 6 of the 7 even knew the contents of the will.

"I’ve notified my children that I don’t have much time left. Of course they asked to see the will. I know that the second they see it, the shit will hit the fan and things will escalate. I don’t want it. I don’t want to spend my final year seeing my children suffer and fight," he explained.

"Ronnie advised me agains disclosing the will, she’s a skilled lawyer so I trust her completely," he concluded. "I refused to disclose the will and now my children are enraged. They keep speculating about the will, they keep pestering me and giving advice on what should I leave to whom. Am I the asshole for refusing to disclose the contents of my will? By now, the only ones who know about them are me and Ronnie and I intend to keep it this way."

While there were a few who shared the sentiment that the cowboy could leave his ranch to anyone he pleased -- the majority on the forum believed he was doing wrong by his offspring.

The highest rated comment on the post noted: "It all just sounds like one cop out after another. You didn't raise the majority of your children. Even the ones you did raise you 'couldn't refuse to take them in'. Your son was only taken in after his 'asshole step dad kicked him out'. Well his real dad didn't take him in from the get go so what does that make you?"

"Then you want to keep your will confidential because you don't want to handle the consequences of your own decision of how you are choosing to distribute your assets. So you would rather your children all rip each other's throats out and hate on another than direct that anger where it really belongs, at you," the commenter continued.

"Normally I'd think that they should be more concerned with enjoying the time you have remaining and filling it with pleasant memories but I really don't think that applies here. They have dealt with an absentee father their whole lives who is more concerned about his ranch than them," the Redditor concluded.

Another commenter echoed the sentiment, writing: "The OP [original poster] has children by multiple women; treated them unequally in life; cared for as few of them as possible and finally treats them very unequally in death."

While many argued over the potential value of the ranch, others shared compassion for the plight the rancher suddenly found himself in.

"I’m sorry to hear of your prognosis. Your assets are yours and yours alone to do with whatever you see fit. Money sometimes has a horrible way of ripping families apart after a loved one dies, and based on your description of the family dynamics, it sounds like that would be the case here no matter what choices you make in your will," one Redditor shared.

Another echoed: "I mean, the way these people immediately went to the will while their father (even if he's a shitty one) is still alive, says everything I need to know about this. OP is right in doing this although it seems his last months on earth won't be peaceful regardless."

Meanwhile, many a commenter offered another more brutal solution if the rancher ended up sharing how their inheritance would be divided before he died, which one summed up as follows: "If anyone contests [your will] change their portion to $1."

Hearing that, OP offered another alternative road he could go down for his end-of-life plan: "I'm tempted to leave the ranch to Kathie&Mark, cars to Tony and Ronny respectively, add in the obligatory $1 and spend the [rest of the] cash on blow and hookers. Probably gonna do exactly that if anyone crosses the boundaries."

What do you think?