[mreid]

I'm sorry in advance if I am misinterpreting the original post, but I read it as, "Why should I help my relative unless I get an inheritance." Frankly, these are two different things. You help someone because it is the right thing to do, not because you expect some reward from them in the end. If they are not deserving help, then don't. If you do, make it out of the kindness of your heart, not hoping for some reward in the end and then feel bitter if/when it doesn't come.

Personally, I have been very fortunate in my life, but no thanks to my parents. They divorced when I was 7 and my dad was well off and gave us nothing. Living with my mom we had nothing as she worked as a drug/alcohol/mental health counselor while trying to raise five kids and pissed any little thing she had away and is now practically penniless at 80. We even lived in the projects (Google Laclede Town in St. Louis). Fortunately, she has her health and is still working. I left home at 17, moved around the world for work, and built a great career through hard work and sacrifice. Now I'm expected to help support her and I do it (sometimes admittedly feeling irritated) and am constantly asked for money by my siblings and their kids. I always say no. Not because I know I won't get anything in return, but because I feel that they have made poor choices more driven by their convenience than working towards defined goals. Not my values, so they are on their own.