What is the name of your state? Florida
Hello,
My mother is having problems with her sisters over a life estate issue.
Over ten years ago before my Grandmother died, she insisted that my mother and our family live in her house after she died. My mother's 4 siblings were not happy, but none of them wanted the house and didn't want to sell it so they supposedly agreed. They just sent my mother the forms to sign and it came out later that the 4 of them owned the house and she had life estate. She did not agree with this, this was not what they have agreed on in the first place, so she insisted that they redo the deed with the house divided 5 ways. They insisted that she DID own part of the house and was overreacting. Then the 2 brothers transferred their interest to the other 2 sisters. My mother then insisted that the deed be redone with the sisters each owning a third and her having a life estate in the other 2/3 so she could get the Homestead exemption. They finally did, causing a family feud to continue until this day.
Now to the current problem. The hurricanes did a lot of damage to the house. The roof has to be completely replaced and brought up to code. In addition, the general condition of the house has continued to deteriorate. When we moved in, it was rotting and needed serious work. My mother cannot afford to repair anything beyond the roof, which the insurance will pay for. She asked her sisters, who still claim to not want the house, to sign their interest over to her as sole owner so she can take out a mortgage, pay off her debts and fix the house. They are refusing to do that or to help with the repairs, claiming that she is supposed to sink outrageous amounts of money into a house that she will never own so they can reap the benefits when she either dies or they sell the house.
Question 1: What is she expected to do under the life estate regarding repairs?
Question 2: Is there any way to force the siblings to transfer their interests in the house? I have looked up the idea of partition, but my mother cannot afford to buy the house, even at auction.
This seems to be an unwinnable situation and my mother is just about ready to leave the house and let them deal with it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Manday
Hello,
My mother is having problems with her sisters over a life estate issue.
Over ten years ago before my Grandmother died, she insisted that my mother and our family live in her house after she died. My mother's 4 siblings were not happy, but none of them wanted the house and didn't want to sell it so they supposedly agreed. They just sent my mother the forms to sign and it came out later that the 4 of them owned the house and she had life estate. She did not agree with this, this was not what they have agreed on in the first place, so she insisted that they redo the deed with the house divided 5 ways. They insisted that she DID own part of the house and was overreacting. Then the 2 brothers transferred their interest to the other 2 sisters. My mother then insisted that the deed be redone with the sisters each owning a third and her having a life estate in the other 2/3 so she could get the Homestead exemption. They finally did, causing a family feud to continue until this day.
Now to the current problem. The hurricanes did a lot of damage to the house. The roof has to be completely replaced and brought up to code. In addition, the general condition of the house has continued to deteriorate. When we moved in, it was rotting and needed serious work. My mother cannot afford to repair anything beyond the roof, which the insurance will pay for. She asked her sisters, who still claim to not want the house, to sign their interest over to her as sole owner so she can take out a mortgage, pay off her debts and fix the house. They are refusing to do that or to help with the repairs, claiming that she is supposed to sink outrageous amounts of money into a house that she will never own so they can reap the benefits when she either dies or they sell the house.
Question 1: What is she expected to do under the life estate regarding repairs?
Question 2: Is there any way to force the siblings to transfer their interests in the house? I have looked up the idea of partition, but my mother cannot afford to buy the house, even at auction.
This seems to be an unwinnable situation and my mother is just about ready to leave the house and let them deal with it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Manday