I’m Not Giving Money to My Late Husband’s Affair Child

The weight of betrayal, combined with the complexities of inheritance and responsibility, can be almost unbearable. This is the case for a woman who, after the loss of her husband, finds herself confronting a painful and unexpected dilemma.

She explained what happened.

My husband passed away nearly three years ago, leaving me to raise our 8-year-old child on my own. Since his death, I’ve uncovered truths about him that would have ended our marriage had he been alive.

About six weeks ago, a process server came looking for him with a court order to submit DNA for a paternity test. I handed him a copy of the death certificate and sent him on his way.

Not long after, a woman appeared at my door with a child, claiming this was my late husband’s son. Is it? I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. The child resembles him, but he’s young enough that he must have been conceived just before my husband’s death.

I informed her that he had passed away and directed her to his grave. Almost immediately, she began demanding ’her half’ of his estate. I couldn’t help but laugh and tell her that half of nothing was nothing, and she was welcome to it.

Where I might be seen as the bad guy is that, while there was no estate, there were assets that bypassed probate. One of those was a rental property given to us by his parents, deeded to us as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. When he died, it became mine.

I’ve since sold the property, and that money will go toward our child’s college education. Legally, I’m covered—I’ve already consulted my attorney. While I do feel sympathy for this child, my priority is my own.

People stood on her side.

• “You were not a jerk. And for what it’s worth, that’s not a terribly uncommon scam for some reason. If you still have the papers, I’d look into if they were even legitimate.” O***Vegetable / Reddit
• “I would have said, ‘He died with a ton of debt. Let me get your info, so I can transfer half of it to you.’ She would be out of there so fast!” New_Standard_8609 / Reddit
• “You need to focus on your child and your finances. The property legally belongs to you, and there’s no proof your late husband was the father of the other child. Your priority is your own child’s future.” Trick-Measurement-20 / Reddit

• “Unless she has a way to prove paternity, you have ZERO obligations to her or her affair baby. Even if he is, the rental property was in your name, so it was not your husband’s to give away. Remember, she chose to wreck your house. I would not open the door for her.” mi_nombre_es_ricardo / Reddit
• “Don’t even give a second of thought about this again. Just tell yourself, ‘It was just a scam.’ And never talk to that person again, get a restraining order if it comes to it. Having said that, if you ever are served with papers (i.e. an actual lawsuit has been filed) then lawyer up immediately and vigorously defend yourself.” Apprehensive-Care20z / Reddit
• “It’s between your late hubby and his baby momma. You received sole possession of all assets upon his death, and you owe nothing to the baby momma. She should have informed him she was pregnant with his child while he was alive if she knew. Why did she wait 3 years to come forward?” Funny247365 / Reddit

Though the moral and ethical aspects of her decision may provoke debate, it highlights a universal truth: moving forward often requires making tough, deeply personal choices.

Lisa Marie Presley kept her son Benjamin’s body at home for two months after he passed away.

Lisa Marie Presley was so devastated by the loss of her son, Benjamin Keough, that she kept his body in her home for two months after he passed away. She even invited a tattoo artist to see him so she could get matching tattoos.

This is just one of many surprising details in Lisa Marie’s new memoir, From Here to the Great Unknown, which was completed by her daughter, actress Riley Keough, after Lisa Marie passed away in January 2023.

Lisa Marie (left) next to her beloved son Ben, along with her third husband, Michael Lockwood, and a guest, at the London premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” in November 2010.
Getty Images

In her book, Lisa Marie shared that she had to fight to stay alive for her other children, Riley and her twin daughters Harper and Finley, who are now 16. She didn’t say goodbye to Benjamin right away because she was torn between burying him in Hawaii or at Graceland, the Memphis estate where Elvis, her father, is buried.

Lisa Marie kept the room at 55 degrees to preserve Benjamin’s body and got so used to caring for him and having him there.

Riley and Lisa Marie decided to honor Benjamin by getting tattoos like his. Benjamin had his sister’s name on his collarbone and his mom’s name on his hand. Riley had her brother’s name tattooed on her collarbone, and a tattoo artist was called to Lisa Marie’s home to add Benjamin’s name to her hand. When the artist asked if they had photos of Benjamin’s tattoos to match the font and placement, Lisa Marie said, “No, but I can show you.”

Riley writes: “Lisa Marie Presley had just asked this poor man to look at her dead son, who was right next to us in the guest house. I’ve had a very strange life, but this moment is one of the weirdest.”

Lisa Marie also knew it was strange. She said, “I think it would scare the heck out of anyone else to have their son there like that. But not me.”

Soon after the tattoo day, Riley remembers that everyone felt like Benjamin wanted to be laid to rest.

Even Lisa Marie said she could feel him communicating with her, saying, “This is crazy, Mom, what are you doing? What the heck!”

The family held a funeral for Benjamin in Malibu, and New Age author Deepak Chopra led the ceremony. Riley said she had to keep her eyes closed the whole time because she was struggling to cope with everything.

Benjamin was buried at Graceland, next to Elvis, and Lisa Marie would later be buried there too.

Riley writes a lot about her brother’s struggles with mental health and how he often went on drinking binges. She doesn’t believe he truly wanted to die.

After his death, she and her mom went through his phone, looking for answers.

Riley writes, “We found a text he sent to my mom a couple of weeks before he died that said, ‘I think something’s wrong with me mentally. I think I have a mental health issue.’ It’s heartbreaking to me that he only realized he might need help just two weeks before he took his own life.”