I'd give anything in the world to have my MIL with us, instead of owning her house and having a stable roof over our heads The two years of lawyers, insurance companies dodging us and interference from authorities due to the circumstances surrounding the inheritance hasn't made the financial gain worth it... Of course I'm glad to have a mortgaged home rather than a rented one, and all the freedoms that come with it (ie ability to own pets, do renos, decorate at will and never answer to anybody but the bank), but DH and I never saw it coming, so the inheritance we have received is definitely a 'bonus' of sorts - we would never have expected that we would stand to 'gain' so much in the event of MIL's passing.

As for my parents, I don't expect anything other than small sentimental items, which I guess is again a bonus rather than an entitlement - as a PP said, I 'expect' to become to 'guardian' of special items that mean something to our family, but they have no monetary worth and I'd only be interested in them because I know my brother can't be trusted to care for sentimental things.

I think I may have seen the ep of Dr Phil you're talking about, and yes, the attitude was disgusting. Maybe in times past, an inheritance was a way of parents/family helping out the next generation by leaving something to give them a 'leg up' so to speak, but I also agree with the PP who said that parents provide education and an upbringing that should enable their offspring to be self-sufficient and make their own way in the world, instead of expecting a 'handout' when their elders leave this earth.