Throw away account. My dad passed away suddenly about seven years ago when I was 20. His death was a suicide, which caused a lot of pain and fractured a lot of relationships in my family. I’m now 27, and I’ve been trying to navigate all these lingering dynamics ever since.

One thing about my dad: he was a car collector. He had a few vintage cars that he was really passionate about. After he passed, the cars were still in my mom’s possession, but she was in deep grief and just wanted to sell them and move on. My older sister (10 years older, my half-sister—we share the same mom) and her husband fought her on this hard. For context, my dad basically raised my sister and was close with my brother-in-law too—he taught him a lot about cars. Eventually, after a lot of back and forth, my mom agreed to transfer the car titles to my brother-in-law and he’s been storing and taking care of them ever since.

From the start, my sister and brother-in-law have always said the cars were really “mine,” and something I’d inherit when the time was right, whether that meant I had a place to put them, sell them to finance a wedding, house, etc. I’ve never asked for anything until now. My fiancée and I are trying to buy a house, and with how expensive everything is getting, my mom suggested selling one of the cars—one that doesn’t hold much sentimental value. For more context, we’ve been trying to buy for the last 2 years and selling a car never crossed my mind. We’ve been saving everything we can for a large down payment. I brought up selling a car to my sister and brother-in-law, and while there were some emotions, they seemed to understand my reasoning and remember their promise.

But now my brother-in-law wants compensation for the years he’s been paying for insurance and maintenance. I’m okay with him getting something, but I’m nervous he’s going to expect half of whatever we make off the sale, which feels wrong to me. They were the ones who insisted on keeping the cars, fought my mom about it, and willingly took on the responsibility. I didn’t get anything when my dad died. They’ve had the benefit of the cars for years—and honestly, they barely use them.

It’s also hard not to feel like they’re very financially motivated (I mean, so am I, I guess). My sister has vented to me about the significant amount of credit card debt they’re in, talking like several tens of thousands. They’ve owned a home for 10 years, both work good jobs, and don’t have kids by choice—but they overspend like crazy and have made poor financial choices. That’s not my fault, and it feels like they see this car sale as a way to cover mistakes they made.

So… AITA for feeling like he shouldn’t be entitled to half the sale of a car they always said was meant to be mine? Is compensation even fair?

TL;DR: My dad passed away and left behind vintage cars. My sister and brother-in-law fought to keep them and said they’d eventually be mine. Now that I want to sell one to help buy a house, my BIL wants compensation for insurance/upkeep. I’m okay with him getting something, but I’m frustrated because they chose to take the cars, are deep in credit card debt due to their own bad choices, and I didn’t get anything when my dad died. AITA for feeling like he shouldn’t get half the sale?