Woman’s Great-Grandfather Makes Every Newly Engaged Couple In The Family Go No Contact For 365 Days If They Want Inheritance
Stramp | Shutterstock Many families have traditions that are passed down from generation to generation. One woman shared her family's bizarre tradition that has continued for decades and has actually guaranteed successful marriages!
When it comes to wealth, especially old money, inheritance clauses passed down from generation to generation can seem a little absurd to the rest of us plebs, but as one woman noted, her great-grandpa's old-school thinking kept their family's wealth fully intact and safe from gold-digging spouses.
A woman’s great-grandfather requires every newly engaged couple to go no contact for a year if they want to inherit any family money.
In a TikTok video, Luisa Melcher explained the origin of this unusual family tradition. “My great-grandfather was a very, very, very, very wealthy man, and he had eight children,” she said. “His first daughter was named Amelia, and she married this man after only dating him for three months.”
As it turned out, Amelia’s fiancé was only after her father’s money and stole a great deal of it — an amount estimated to be around $25 million today — soon after getting married. "He just took all of it and then divorced her," she revealed.
To ensure that nothing like that would happen again, the great-grandfather implemented a new family tradition that he dubbed 'The Year Without.'
“He set up this system where there are trust funds for all of his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but in order to unlock them, you have to meet the criteria that he set up,” Melcher explained.
Per "The Year Without" guidelines, every couple who becomes engaged in the family must go no contact for 365 days before they can get married. The year begins the day after the engagement.
According to Melcher, the intention behind this rule is “to make sure that you have enough perspective on the world and perspective on that person.” Essentially, they must ensure that they are making the right decision and that their reasons to get married go beyond the financial.
Melcher revealed that some couples in her family chose not to participate in the family tradition, fearing that it would be too taxing on their relationship. However, she claimed that the amount of money on the line is “life-changing.”
“My mom’s brother and sister did The Year Without, and they are in a completely different tax bracket than my parents [who did not do The Year Without],” Melcher said. “My cousins had a completely different lifestyle than I did growing up.”
The woman shared that she and her boyfriend will soon have to choose whether or not they will participate in the Year Without.
The two have talked it over and believe that they are up for the challenge. “We realized that we could be completely financially independent and just pursue our dreams for the rest of our lives and quit our jobs that we hate,” Melcher said. “How could we say no to that substantial of a gift?”
As for whether or not couples remained faithful to each other throughout the no-contact period, Melcher shared that some did, while others didn't. “It all depends on how you interpret the Year Without,” she added. However, those who cheat purportedly do so because they want to determine if their future spouse is truly who they want to spend the rest of their life with. "I'm definitely not going to be cheating on my fiancé," she clarified.
Melcher also revealed that there is a private investigative firm, not affiliated with her family, that will monitor the couple throughout the year. “People have gotten disqualified from being at the same store at the same time!” she claimed. As a precaution, Melcher will be moving to a different city after she and her boyfriend get engaged to avoid losing the money.
When it comes to an inheritance, strange provisions aren't as uncommon as you'd think.
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The truly wealthy are often labeled eccentric, and there's something to be said for that. They lead completely different lives from the rest of us. Those eccentricities can bleed into their inheritance planning, as well.
Paul Lindsey, a senior estate planner at MacMillan Estate Planning, stressed that when it comes to provisions in your will, the sky is pretty much the limit. If you can think it up, you can put it in your estate plan. He explained, “When it comes to preparing your Will, you can, in theory, include any provisions that you see fit. Some of the strangest that I can recall would probably include a lady who gave me a detailed list of the teddy bears that should go into her coffin with her, or requests for music at funerals which perhaps did not contain the most obvious somber choices…”
While teddy bears in a coffin aren't quite the same as a Year Without, provisions like it have come up. MacMillan Estate Planning referenced Henry Budd, whose fortune was worth tens of millions, and was subject to the provision that his two sons never grow mustaches or they risk losing their inheritance.
Every family has their own unique set of traditions, though not all as dramatic as this family's. In Melcher's case, she seems willing to put her relationship to the test in the hopes of securing her financial future, and honestly, in today's economy, who could blame her? "Out of the 40+ couples in my family who’ve survived the Year Without, ZERO of them have gotten divorced," Melcher wrote in the caption of her video. "So maybe my great-grandpa was actually onto something."
Megan Quinn is a writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
